Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Help, foxes are keeping me awake every night and ruining my garden.
For the last couple of months a group of about 4 foxes have been getting into my back garden every night and running riot. They have dug holes in my lawn, knocked over patio tubs, brought rubbish in from people's bins, including dirty nappies, and have broken one of my fences by jumping up on it and running along it. They also screech from about midnight to around 4am. I have tried using repellant sprays and gels, but they don't seem to deter them at all.
I am at my wits end as my garden has been ruined and I am being woken up most nights. Does anyone have any ideas for how to stop them getting into my garden? I don't have any holes in my fences and, until recently, the fences were all in very good condition. They seem to be able to jump up onto the fences which are 5-6 feet high.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mike Snowdon on
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The Fox Project has a helpline for people having problems. Never tried it so can't say how useful it might be:
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Thanks Mike, I will have a look at the website and ring their helpline.
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Permalink Reply by Alison P on
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You poor thing, I really sympathise - we had a similar experience earlier in the year when a fox raised some cubs in the garden behind ours. Luckily for us they moved on.
In terms of what you can do, I don't know if any of the following would help:
- Our foxes got in through holes they dug under the fence but it sounds like that isn't the case for you (but check if some might not be obvious (behind plants or bins)
- On fences - ours are about 6 ft and they got up them fairly easily. But I took down some wires that were horizontally across (and which helped them grip) and made the wires vertical, and that seemed to make it harder.
- Try and make it as hard as possible to get in - if they are climbing onto something in another garden, see if you can get it moved, or block any holes.
- I didn't try this but you can buy a spiky strip that you can attach onto the top of a fence - might be worth that if they are running along them. Let me know if you want to pursue that and can't find them anywhere, I think I've a catalogue somewhere that includes them.
- A neighbour bought a sonic thing that they thought was helping. I've never had any luck with those on cats so am a bit of a sceptic. Apparently the only thing that really makes a difference is spraying with water - but the automatic sensor ones that do that are a bit pricy.
Sorry not to be of more help. Good luck. Will see if I can think of anything else.
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Thanks for your suggestions (and sympathy!) I was thinking of getting a sonic deterrent although the reviews are mixed. I do have two cats though, and they would be affected by it, so I want to try other solutions first. My cats have started staying in at night, due to the foxes, and one has been messing in the house, so I am keen not to upset them too much. The water sprayer looks quite good, but it needs to be connected to a tap by a hose, and have a mains electric supply, and I'm not sure how I could manage that without my back door open!
I am going to get my fences repaired and maybe have some strips of plastic spikes put on the top of them. There is one gap at the top of my back fence which the foxes jump through, even though it is 5 feet off the ground. I have tried blocking it off myself but they have manged to push their way through again. I will look on the Trades People board and find a good fencer who can hopefully secure the garden a bit better than I have done.
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We had a similar problem when we lived on the Ladder. In the end they moved on - we think they had their den in a collapsing shed at the back of the garden, which we replaced. It also helped when our garden was a bit more mature (they dug up newly planted roses etc when we first moved in and did work on the garden), and we planted lots of big shrubs and spiky plants to discourage them from rooting around and/or climbing up the fences. Someone suggested that human urine would put them off (my husband was too modest to pee directly in the garden, so we used jars of it instead!), but I can't say that that made any difference.
But you have my sympathy - ours seemed to delight in tormenting us, leaving poo outside the back door, and the front.
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Hi AntK. It sounds like you are having very similar problems to me. There are some gardens near me that are very overgrown and I think the foxes may live there. There is also an electricity sub-station with a lot of ovegrtowen vegetaion behind it, and I have seen them in there too.
The soil is my garden is really poor - very stony and shallow, so I don't have many plants in the flower beds. I will ask about spiky plants at the garden centre though, as maybe I could put some in tubs near the fence which they climb over to get in. I am also looking into getting some plastic spikes to put on top of the fences that they run along. It will upset my cats, but to be honest, anything that deters the foxes is worth it in my books as they are driving me mad!
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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on
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A friend used a water scarecrow and it worked really well at first until the wily ones discoverd that if they kept close to the fence they didn't trigger it. The only thing that seems to work is persistence - filing holes, sinking a barrier (something like roof slates) at the base of the fence so they can't dig under and removing any undergrowth nearby where they can hide during the day.
Anyway, you think they're noisy now - the mating season has just started!
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I can't imagine their screeching could get any louder!
I have been told that male urine (the human variety) is a good deterrent but unfortunately my household is all-female.
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Permalink Reply by JD on
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We had problems some time back and I covered my garden in pepper dust - seemed to work, have also used chilli powder too - buy in bulk from local shops rather than overly expensive pepper dust options sold as deterrents. Seems to stop Cats pooing on the garden too.
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I have heard that human male urine is an excellent fox repellent and is also good for the plants (if the male is healthy of course).
Hope this helps.
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I hate them...what about starting an urban hunt?
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As long as you eat them that's fine by me.
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