Fox cubs

[Pickle]

"Fleas" and "Stinky". They're very cute, have kept us entertained for a few weeks now, but we are starting to realise that our little garden residents are a pain - poo everywhere, they're digging holes, and they are not scared of us at all.

Anyone with experience? Two babies plus a sizeable Mum, who, as far as we can work out, sleep under our decking.

I try to go out and scare them away any time I see them (which is frequently), but they hide for all of 10 seconds then resume their little foxy activities. They are very very tame, I can almost touch them, and am wary of leaving the back door open as I think they would come inside.

We are going to try and lift some decking boards tomorrow to see if we can find the den. Has anyone tried using the deterrent sprays available?

[IlonaM]

No personal experience, but you could have a look at these advice sites:

http://www.wildlifegardener.co.uk/foxesinthegarden.html

http://www.animalaid.org.uk/images/pdf/factfiles/Fox.pdf

Also a wildlife charity might have advice about encouraging the to move on, but it might be too early if cubs are still very young. You obviously have a very safe environment in your garden for mother fox to raise her family!

[Gaynor Hill]

You can buy Lime poo it deter from cats foxes etc from garden but as there are cubs not a lot you can do to move them they will be gone by October as they start to look for a den but get in touch with fox society

[Saffron]

Agreed, depending on the age of the cubs, it might be difficult to convince them to re-den. However, have a look at the webpages for The Fox Project: http://foxproject.org.uk/deterrence/

In the meantime, have you tried diatomaceous earth for the fleas? I'm not sure where to buy it locally, since I haven't used any in a while. You can definitely buy it online. It's safe to use around children and pets, and it's easy to apply to lawns and garden beds. I've used it really successfully in the past. Worth a go? xx

[Pickle]

Thanks Saffron. The cub doesn't actually have fleas (as far as I'm aware), that's just the name my charming children gave it!

[Saffron]

That means they're fairly healthy then. Hopefully that also means they're growing quickly and might be easier to move on sooner rather than later!

[Green Goose]

First of all, you have to reclaim "your territory". Foxes are quite territorial and mark their territory with urine and poo.

You have to do the same to reclaim your garden.

Yes, that means doing it yourself (after dark so as not to offend the neighbours) or do it in a jar and spread it around.

Also, there are various commercial products available that are based on garlic that do work temorarily. If you dont want to do DIY, then search Ebay for cat repellent. It's pricey but does work for a while. DIY is cheaper!

If/when that stops working, make up a chile/mustard sandwich.

Should all these measures fail after time, you HAVE to relocate them. They will get bigger and bigger. Someone I know offers a relocation service but it is not cheap. To do it humanely requires real skill, equipment and time.

GG

[Pickle]

Thanks Green Goose.

In the last couple of weeks I think they have moved away, I've only spotted one of them on a single occasion, whereas previously I saw them daily, and they were bringing a lot of rubbish/food scraps into our garden st night which has now stopped happening.

There's the odd bit of fox poo on the grass in the mornings, but nothing even close to what it was like a few weeks ago.

[Robert Poste's Child]

In a past thread on foxes someone recommended marking your own territory by putting early-morning pee (ideally male) in an old washing-up liquid bottle with some garlic, leaving it to ferment for a few days, then spraying it regularly where they've been marking and around gateposts and any other entry points. I did this for a while when there was a lot of poo appearing in my garden (and on my front doormat, delightfully), and it seemed to do the trick.

It also appeals to me as a way to use up all those horrible discarded water bottles full of orange liquid, though so far I haven't been brave enough to open one.

[Lowlander]

Male urine - without being delicate, pee in a bottle/jar in the comfort of your toilet, then spread it round the garden. Fresh is fine.

Foxes will shortly disappear. Very effective.

[dirac]

Thanks for the advice. Our neighbors don't look after their garden so it's a jungle, perfect for a fox den in and we have a couple cubs that are definitely not scared of us. They were cute for a while, until they started ruining my garden and continuously digging up my runner beans and other plants I'm trying to grow. Now it's war haha (obviously not literally).