Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Fox problems & some analysis
Hi all
I posted about foxes when I first moved to the ladder a few years back and the problem has only gotten worse. As lovely as they may look, I spend a lot of time clearing up their mess and preventing my kids from playing outside till I clean it all up, its gotten quite frustrating now.
We have just got back from a weeks holiday to find their mess all over our decking and yard, so frustrating to come back to, especially when the children just want to play in the yard.
I have tried the water spray repellent, the ultrasonic repellents, sprinkling chilli and other various strong scents around the lawn without much luck. It would be great to know what others have had success with.
I have a video camera in the yard now and every morning wake up to see the previous nights action. We have anything up to 3 foxes at a time in the yard. I see them bring in food, toys, rubbish, dead animals (yes I had to clean a dead rat from the yard), dig holes and run havoc.
You can see some action here: https://ring.com/share/6727092501341236924
For those who have foxes frequent (and those that don't) it would be interesting to know where you are located to try and paint a picture of how far and wide they reach.
- Are you closer to Green Lanes or Wightman Road?
- Are you closer to Harringay / Hornsey station?
- Do you know of any dens close by?
We are on Lausanne Road, a few houses down from Wightman, so I assume they are coming from somewhere close by, just no idea where, maybe the New River or a den in one of the properties close by.
I am now going to try and few other repellant tricks, maybe bring the sprinkler out again and block up all the gaps in the fence and the holes underneath them, hopefully something can help deter them from my yard.
Tags for Forum Posts: foxes
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by AlexConx on
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I had similar problem 3 yrs ago. In my experience, it wasnt a good idea to put repellent etc in the garden, as it caused opposite effect (they get more active marking territory). All has to be only in the fence/wall where they come from, not on decking/lawn etc.
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Permalink Reply by Shar on
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We've had very similar issues and tried similar solutions. Our neighbours on either side love feeding the foxes, which I can't hold against them but we just want the digging and poo to stop even if they want to use the garden as a thoroughfare.
We're on Umfreville Road - halfway.
The ultrasonic repellents have had some impact, also a motion sensor light which tricks them into thinking we're watching - though no doubt they'll get used to it. Fixing gaps in the fence and putting prickly things in their favourite poo / digging spots helped. The most irritating thing was their using a hole in the fence right near our kitchen and closest to the little one's room, and making an awful racket doing so. A wire mesh + prickly strips in the landing spot (if they jumped over the fence) at least stopped that. They can jump over fences if they have to - so all one can do is to make it a bit more inconvenient.
Unfortunately the best deterrent is being present in the garden.
Happy to discuss more offline.
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Permalink Reply by Nanz on
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What brand of ultrasonic sensors are working for you? At the moment I am in trial and error till I find one that does the trick. Tonight I have two in the yard, positioned in different area's to see if they have a different impact. We also have a motion sensor light, but that does nothing.
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These ones: PestBye Battery Operated Waterproof Cat Repellent - Quick Fix Ultrasonic Cat Scarer with Ground Stake https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004SGC75S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_-loyDbM...
Set to between 3 and 6 on the frequency dial.
3 - 5 is meant to also work on cats but it doesn't, and I like it that way.
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Hi Nanz,
I asked Karen from Mama Cat Trust to advise - Karen is an experienced fox rescuer in North London. I will copy paste below what she said:
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It sounds like they have tried a lot of things but it is definitely worth trying the motion activated water sprayer again as we find these to be very effective. It is also important to bear in mind that the fox cubs born this year are starting to disperse so the the situation should improve over the next few weeks. There is a post about deterrence on my website www.mamacat.co.uk - titled fox deterrence. Here it is:
In Spring and Summer, there can be a lot of fox action in our gardens as foxes are bringing up their young families. Almost all cubs are born in March and as the weeks pass, the growing cubs are very active and adventurous. Vixens often give birth under sheds and decking as they think it is a safe place. The male fox also takes an active part in bringing up the cubs so it can mean having quite a few foxes around at once! This can involve a lot of fox noises as they learn to communicate with each other and also accompanying boisterous activity and playing. This can sometimes be messy!
For those who do not want foxes and/or cubs in their garden, the most humane and effective solution is to encourage them to move on naturally. The idea is to make the garden less hospitable. This can be achieved in a number of ways.
You can apply products such as ‘Get off my garden’ and ‘Scoot’ which are available online or from garden centres. They have to be reapplied frequently especially if it rains but can be helpful as immediate short term deterrence.
Motion activated water sprayers are very effective but if you have cats or dogs, it will squirt them too!
You can keep moving things around and make a lot of noise in the garden-even a radio left nearby can be very helpful. The more you are active in the garden, the more likely they will be to move onto somewhere more hospitable.
For more long term solutions involving permanent exclusion eg professionally filling in spaces where earths have been dug, I recommend the humane services of Foxagon.
http://fox-a-gon.co.uk/
Sometimes people think that foxes can be relocated to a more suitable place but this is very cruel as you would be throwing them into the territory of other foxes. It is also illegal.
Removing foxes is never the solution as very quickly more foxes move into the vacated space.
Humane deterrence is the only effective method.
I can also give limited advice.
www.mamacat.co.uk
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Thanks for this Vlatka, I am getting the water sprayer out again this weekend to see how it goes and if it improves things.
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Permalink Reply by lina on
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Following this thread with interest. We just moved to the ladder, and our dog is going nuts every night because of the fox activity. I'm going to get a baby gate to keep him out of view of the back garden, but I would love to humanely encourage the foxes to go elsewhere.
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Try urinating around your garden obvs in private. As it creates a territorial barrier. Worth a try men preferably as theirs is stringer
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stronger
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I have heard of this but not tried it. Maybe a last resort if all else fails.
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It's the only thing that's worked for us! We were being plagued by foxes and one of our cats was attacked and had his tail shredded. You can also buy lion urine online which apparently works even better than human male.
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