Where does the fox get into my garden?
If you’ve got foxes coming into your garden, then the best way of stopping them is to work out where they get in and target that area with a fox deterrent.
Archive for year: 2018
How to stop foxes chewing watering & irrigation pipes
“I’ve got an automated irrigation system in my garden to keep things green and colourful, but the power cables and supply pipes keep getting chewed and bitten through by foxes. It’s really frustrating. Help!”
– Steve, Kent
Traditionally, the most common problems that people have with urban foxes coming into their gardens is regarding fouling or digging holes in the lawn.
However, there has recently been a large increase in reports of foxes chewing through all sorts of wires and cables, including car brakes, garden lighting wiring and automatic watering systems.
Fox cubs and adolescents are particularly prone to chewing, often to practise their hunting skills, strengthen their teeth or to test out what is and isn’t food.
In the case of watering systems, the most frequently reported areas of damage are micro jet heads or drip emitters – the places where water is released, strongly indicating that the foxes are trying to get to the water.
Whatever the reason, it’s annoying. And the problem is usually discovered just at the time of year when you’re ready to get your garden looking at it’s best after the barren winter season.
So what can be done?
Make your garden less attractive to foxes
Before we look at a specific product, there are some small changes you can make in your garden that will help make it less welcoming to foxes:
- Work out where they come in and block up any holes, gaps or access points. Make entry to your garden as difficult as possible.
- Avoid using bonemeal in your flowerbeds or potted plants. It contains animal bones and slaughterhouse waste which attracts foxes. A good alternative is a seaweed-based fertiliser.
- Avoid throwing out kitchen scraps onto your lawn or patio for birds as foxes will also be attracted to the food (as will mice and rats). Try and stick to birdseed from hanging feeders or high up on birdtables.
- Where possible, bury any wires or cables that don’t need to be exposed underneath soil to remove the temptation to chew.
Of course, not all of these points will be applicable to you and your garden, but getting into the mindset of making foxes feel less welcome will make a difference.
Make it easy with an automated fox deterrent
As you already know, foxes are persistent and, as your garden forms part of a fox’s territory, they are not an animal that will simply disappear overnight.
Much like your automatic irrigation system, which negates the need for you to be physically present to keep your garden watered, it’s best to have a fox deterrent that can deter foxes from your garden regardless of whether you’re in or out, or if it’s day or night (when foxes are especially active).
The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent
In terms of automated fox deterrence, the most effective unit on the market is the British-made FoxWatch Ultrasonic Fox Deterrent.
The FoxWatch is a small brown unit, measuring 16cm/6.5 inches high, that sits in your garden and contains an infrared motion sensor.
Every time a fox crosses the sensor, the unit emits three sharp bursts of high-pitched noise.
At 40 – 45 kHz, the noises are too high for the human ear to detect (therefore not inconveniencing us) but act as the fox-equivalent of fingers scratching down a blackboard.
Over a short space of time, the FoxWatch automates the behavioural change of the fox, teaching it to associate your garden with the horrible noise, reducing its visits until it no longer comes in at all.
Simple set-up, with a high quality detection system
The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent can be installed and ready for action in your garden within 5 minutes of receiving it.
All you need to do is connect the 12 Volt mains adapter (with 10m/33ft cable) or a Duracell 9 Volt battery, flick the on/off switch and the unit is ready to go.
It comes with a plastic spike you can screw into the bottom of the unit, enabling it to be stuck upright into the ground.
Alternatively, it has an indent on the back allowing it to be wall or fence-mounted about 20-25cm (8-10 inches) off the ground.
The FoxWatch detects movement up to 12 metres (40ft) away in a 100 degree arc in front of it. The motion sensor is angled slightly downwards in order to detect movement on the ground, exactly where foxes operate, with the ultrasonic alarm effective for a distance of up to 18 metres (60ft).
Protect the entry point to your garden
It can be tempting to assume that the best place to install the FoxWatch is right in front of your watering system or pieces of pipework that have been targeted by the fox.
Instead, the most effective place is actually having the FoxWatch face the area where the fox enters your garden.
By protecting the entry point, you’re ensuring that the fox triggers the alarm as soon as it tries to enter your garden, rather than encountering the deterrent further in.
This immediate encounter will help speed up the process of teaching the fox to associate your garden with the noise, bringing the problematic chewing, pooing and digging to an end more quickly.
If you are in need of an effective fox deterrent to protect your automatic watering system, then the FoxWatch is a very convenient choice.
Low maintenance, humane & made in the UK
It’s very low maintenance, especially if you use the mains adapter, and it’s humane, keeping the fox away by causing behavioural change rather than by more unpleasant methods. It’s also safe for use with pets and children.
The nature of the FoxWatch also means you’re not having to spray or apply anything directly to your watering system’s pipework, avoiding the possibility of corrosion or invalidating any warranties.
The internal electronics are made with high-quality components and set in a special waterproof resin, making the unit suitable for sitting outdoors and successfully withstanding the British elements.
The FoxWatch has been extensively tested on the UK’s foxes and is the only ultrasonic fox deterrent on the market entirely designed and manufactured in the UK, making it a very popular choice for those suffering with urban fox problems.
“The fact that I can put it out into the garden and forget about it is great. FoxWatch has kept my back garden clear of foxes for nearly a year now.”
– Mr Longman, Croydon
“I was so pleased with the FoxWatch that I subsequently bought a second unit which continues to work well.”
– H Foster, London
The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent is available in our online store priced at £69.95. The unit comes with a 12 Volt mains adapter, free UK delivery, 2 year manufacturer’s warranty and a 90 day money back guarantee.
For fantastic range of Solar Automatic Watering Systems for your garden, please visit Irrigatia.com
Will the FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent affect my dogs?
Whether or not the FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent Unit will have an effect on dogs is a very common and understandable question that we get from a lot of dog owners who have a fox problem but want to double-check the FoxWatch is ok to use with dogs first.
As many of you may know foxes and dogs are both members of the Canidae biological family and, as a result, they share many common features such as a similar hearing range.
The FoxWatch emits a sound that is between 40-45 kHz, so it is within a dogs hearing range and dogs are able to hear it, although us humans cannot.
Dogs quickly get used to the FoxWatch but foxes do not
However, in most circumstances, a dog owner who installs a FoxWatch finds that, although their dog may bark the first few times the FoxWatch is triggered, they soon get used to it as just another household noise.
The FoxWatch is something new in the garden that is making a new noise, so naturally a dog will initially be inquisitive.
Foxes on the other hand, are wild animals who are constantly on the lookout for threats to themselves and their territories, so the FoxWatch is very successful at providing this threat at all times, causing the fox to flee and teaching the fox that your garden is not a place it can feel comfortable or worth attempting to enter.
The best analogy is to think of the FoxWatch as a fox burglar alarm or the fox equivalent of fingers scratching down a blackboard.
Dogs are often calmer once foxes are out of the garden
So, in short, many dog owners successfully use the FoxWatch to keep foxes away without causing any disruption to their dogs.
A dog, when it is in the garden, is actually a very good natural fox deterrent and it’s worth encouraging your dog to pee in places you’ve seen a fox.
It’s when dogs are indoors or away from home that foxes living nearby may try to venture into the garden. Installing a FoxWatch means there is a deterrent working for you at all times
Additionally, we often get feedback from dog owners that their dogs were previously barking far more when they saw a fox come into the garden, than they do once a FoxWatch is installed and doing its job.
It can also provide peace of mind to many owners of smaller breeds of dog who are worried about potential fox attacks, however small the threat.
Many dog owners use the FoxWatch successfully
Hopefully this information has provided you with more information on how the FoxWatch operates and put your mind at ease about using the FoxWatch with your dog.
Often it’s a case of installing the device and seeing what happens. It’s also worth pointing out that the sound emitted by the unit doesn’t do any ‘harm’ to dogs, foxes or any other animal.
It’s merely a means of shocking the fox sneaking into your garden in order to make it run to a place of safety, preferably out of your garden.
If you would like to purchase the FoxWatch you can do so at the link below.
The FoxWatch is priced at £69.95 and comes with a mains adapter, 2 year manufacturers warranty, free postage and a 60 day money back guarantee, which is plenty of time to evaluate how your dog reacts to it.
How do i deter foxes without scaring my cats?
“I have a fairly small garden and a family of six foxes have just taken residence. I want to get a deterrent but I have two cats and many of the deterrents seem to affect cats as well. Can you please advise which is the best option in these circumstances?”
– Abigail.
This message from Abigail, worrying about inadvertently scaring her cats while trying to deter foxes, is a very common concern.
As any cat owner will testify, if you’ve upset your cat in some way, they definitely let you about know it. Disappearing for the day, sulking under the bed or sitting facing the wall with their back to you are typical signs that you’ve incurred the wrath of your cat.
So, we want to protect our gardens from foxes, but how can we ensure that our cats aren’t inconvenienced at the same time?
Fox deterrents don’t harm cats or foxes
A word that people often use in relation to their cats and fox repellents is ‘harm’.
For example: “I’m not sure about that fox repellent. I don’t want to harm my cat trying to get rid of the fox.”
It’s a completely reasonable thing to say. Of course you don’t want to accidentally harm your cat in your attempts to keep foxes away.
However, it’s very important to understand that fox deterrents don’t cause harm to any animals, not even to foxes themselves. Fox deterrents sold legally in the UK are generally very humane and don’t make foxes stay away by causing pain or suffering.
In fact, the purpose of a good quality fox deterrent is to change the fox’s attitude to your garden from somewhere that it has free reign to do as it pleases to an environment full of uncertainty, doubt and potential danger.
Foxes don’t hang around for long in areas they feel unsafe and that’s what the most effective fox repellents capitalise on.
It’s all about territory
The biggest difference between wild foxes and domestic cats is the importance placed on territory.
A typical day in the life of a fox is dominated by scent-marking its territory (pooing and urinating) and generally doing the rounds ensuring rival foxes are not trying to take over.
Of course, cats have their squabbles with neighbouring cats, which can be upsetting to owners who feel their cat is getting bullied. However, in the grand scheme of things, the battle for territory is not a life and death situation for a cat like it is with a fox.
A domestic cat knows their owner will feed it and it knows it can always run inside to the safety of the house if things get awkward.
On the other hand, a wild fox is completely reliant upon itself. It doesn’t have the luxury of a waiting bowl of food or a nice comfortable sofa to retreat to. One wrong move and the fox could potentially lose its life.
This makes foxes incredibly risk averse. If they get a sniff of potential danger, they will get out of the area and won’t stick around to risk injury or death. Their survival literally depends on it.
You’ll see below that the recommended fox deterrents are targeting the fox’s sense of territory, they are not doing anything that will impact upon your cat.
Your cat’s biggest problem is the fox itself
While you’ve been thinking about what effect a fox repellent might or might not have on your cat, you may have actually overlooked the thing that is upsetting your cat the most…
The fox itself!
The smell, the sight and the sound of the fox is going to be far more stressful for your cat than any deterrent you use to get rid of it.
Some common symptoms of a stressed cat include:
- A reluctance to go outside
- A reluctance to use the cat flap
- Going to the toilet inside
- Going outside, but nervously
- Not venturing far from the house
- Staying low and cautiously sniffing the ground outside
- Generally not being ‘themselves’
If you have foxes regularly coming into your garden and your cat displays some of the characteristics above, then you can be pretty sure that they’re feeling some degree of fox-related stress.
The sooner you take action and reduce fox visits to your garden, the sooner your cat is going to brighten up and feel happier about going outside.
So what are the best cat-friendly fox deterrents to use in your garden?
The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent
The FoxWatch is a very simple little device that lets out high-pitched blasts of ultrasonic noise each time a fox crosses the motion sensor.
The noise acts as both a surprise and an irritation to the fox, causing it to associate your garden with potential danger and that all-important disturbance to its territory, as discussed earlier.
Within a short space of time, the fox visits to your garden will reduce until the fox begins to completely avoid your garden, dropping it from its territory altogether.
• Read more about The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Fox Deterrent
Now, it’s important to note that although the sound of the FoxWatch is within the hearing range of cats, the frequency is bothersome to foxes rather than cats. Your cat won’t be cowering behind the sofa because of the FoxWatch.
In fact, a high percentage of FoxWatch owners also have cats and use the unit highly successfully to deter foxes without upsetting their cats.
Many people report that, once the FoxWatch has been installed and is successfully keeping foxes away, their cats become much more relaxed about leaving the house.
“The fact that I can put it out into the garden and forget about it is great. The FoxWatch has kept my back garden clear of foxes for nearly a year now.”
– Mr Longman, Croydon
The best place to put the FoxWatch is facing the point that the FoxWatch gains entry to your garden. This means that the fox will trigger the FoxWatch as soon as it attempts to enter your garden, rather than being allowed to come in further before encountering a deterrent.
The quicker the fox faces a deterrent as it enters your garden, the quicker it will learn to be wary and stay away.
The FoxWatch is durable, safe and humane for all animals and is something you can set and forget without ongoing attention or maintenance. As foxes are especially persistent, the FoxWatch acts as a good automatic deterrent that can be left on all the time (with mains adapter or battery), deterring foxes regardless of the time of day or if you’re in or out.
The FoxWatch is available in our store priced £69.95. All FoxWatch units come with 12 Volt Mains Adapter, mounting stake, full set-up instructions, free UK delivery, 90 money back guarantee and 2 year manufacturer’s warranty.
Scoot Fox Repellent
Scoot is a scented fox repellent that works slightly differently to how you might expect.
Many scented deterrents contain citronella, which most animals (including foxes and cats) are physically repelled by, hence reader Abigail’s concern that all fox repellents also seem to affect cats.
However, Scoot doesn’t contain citronella and doesn’t seek to repel foxes by creating a smell so bad that the fox (or your cat) doesn’t want to go near it. It’s actually cleverer than that and again targets the fox’s sense of territory.
The scent of Scoot mimics that of another predator, tricking the fox into thinking a rival fox has taken over the territory so that it keeps away from your garden.
Scoot is humane and biodegradable so it doesn’t harm your garden and won’t be of concern to your cat. It’s simply a powder you mix with water and is very fox-specific due to the nature of the smell.
• Read more about Scoot Fox Repellent
The main downside for some people is that Scoot is higher maintenance than the FoxWatch, requiring you to be out in your garden every couple of days for around two weeks spraying the solution. While this seems a bit more hands on, it ensures the scent remains strong and consistent enough to be of concern to the fox.
It’s easy to make the mistake of spraying Scoot once and considering it to be job done. However, once is not enough and is actually one of the main reasons for some negative reviews floating around the Internet about Scoot. You need to spray it multiple times over a sustained period, which many people either don’t realise or aren’t prepared to do.
Foxes are persistent and, once they smell this new scent, they will be back again to see if it’s still there. Allow the scent to weaken and the fox will consider it a mild inconvenience. Keeping up the potency by regularly spraying will convince the fox that the rival has taken over and it should give up your garden.
If you use it properly and don’t mind the extra effort, Scoot can be a very effective fox repellent. If a fox comes back again in the future, simply get some more and repeat the process.
Doing your cat a favour
In conclusion, if you have foxes coming into your garden and are worried about the impact it’s having on your cat, it’s important you take steps now and use a fox deterrent in your garden.
While it’s very unlikely that a fox will actually attack a cat, as we discussed above, the psychological impact possibly being suffered by your cat is much more of a reality.
Hopefully this article has demonstrated that using a fox repellent is not going to upset your cat.
Instead, you should be feeling more confident that you’re actually helping the situation. Claiming back your garden from the fox is likely to make your cat much happier inside and outside your home.
You might also be interested in…
• The FoxWatch Ultrasonic Fox Deterrent – Made in Britain
Do I use male or female dog hair to repel foxes?
Angie, a reader of this site, got in contact via the contact form and asked this question:
“Brilliant site and really useful information. You recommend obtaining dog hair and putting in strategic places in the chicken hut. Can this be either male or female or only male please? Many thanks. Angie.”
Hi Angie,
Thank you for your email and for the kind compliments about the site!
If you can obtain some dog hair, then ideally you should try and get a combination of male and female clippings, as well as from different varieties of dog.
Foxes are naturally incredibly wary of dogs and the more variety of dog smells they can detect, the better, as the perceived threat to their safety becomes greater and the less inclined they are to hang around.
If you also own dogs, then try and encourage them to urinate around the area(s) that the fox comes into your garden and also around your chicken hut.
Unfortunately, fox repellent is not an exact science and it may require you to try a few different methods before you find one that works for you and your garden. As we’ve mentioned several times on the site, being persistent and consistent is the key to success!
Some of other articles you might find useful are:
10 Reasons Foxes Come Into Your Garden
Kind regards,
FoxRepellentExpert.com
You can submit any questions via our Contact Page.
The importance of persistence when deterring foxes
When searching for a suitable fox repellent, it’s very tempting to think that in order for a product to be deemed ‘successful’, you should be able to use the deterrent on Wednesday and the fox would be gone on Thursday.
Indeed, if you look at any fox deterrent products on Amazon, the comments section is often littered with disappointed people declaring a product a failure because it didn’t instantly solve their urban fox problem.
Here is a good example on a popular and effective fox repellent:
“Useless! I’m sure the foxes were laughing as I sprayed this around the garden liberally, they certainly were out as usual straight afterwards.”
Not intended as a criticism of this person in any way, this type of comment is fairly common as most people, quite understandably, are not fully aware of the psychology and behaviour of foxes.
Our expectations of how a repellent should work probably comes from our experience with insect repellent.
If we use a deet-based mosquito repellent, for example, mosquitoes are instantly repelled. However, repelling and deterring foxes doesn’t work in quite the same way.
Successful, long term fox deterrence requires an understanding of how foxes operate.
Repelling foxes requires understanding foxes
Foxes are resilient and adaptable creatures that have been able to thrive in our towns and cities for decades and this helps to explain why there are around 33,000 of them living in urban areas.
They are inquisitive and persistent, with excellent hunting and scavenging capabilities and, as with most wild animals, they are constantly on the lookout for food and danger.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, foxes are territorial animals who will do their utmost to protect their territories.
Bearing all these characteristics in mind, it may be more obvious that foxes are not animals that you can get rid of quickly, no matter how much you wish it were so.
If the fox is persistent then you need to be even more persistent and employ a great deal of patience in order to achieve success.
Persist with fox repellents to change their behaviour
If you put down a scent-based repellent, the fox will sniff it and will try to overpower it with it’s own scent.
If you use an ultrasonic device, a fox will inspect it, sniff it and possibly attack it and urinate on it.
However these reactions are perfectly normal and are not a sign that the deterrent product has failed.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite, showing that your deterrent is disturbing the fox – which is exactly what you want.
Changing a fox’s behaviour over time is the key element here and you need to be consistent and persistent with your fox repellent.
If you spray some Scoot Fox Repellent on your garden, then keep spraying it for a sustained period. If it rains, spray it again. If you see the fox in your garden, spray it again.
If you use a FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent, plug it into the mains, aim it at the point a fox comes in and keep it switched on.
If you use a waterproof radio as a deterrent, put it in your garden and keep it switch on at a low volume.
You need to be on the fox’s case constantly otherwise you wont get the success you desire. In the cases of the FoxWatch and the Radio, there’s not even much effort required from you!
Simply play around with the placements and leave the things switched on!
Keep on keeping on to deter foxes for good
In conclusion, if you want foxes out of your garden and away from your property, find your favoured fox repellent technique(s) and keep on and on and on with it until the fox realises that it is not welcome in your garden.
Get in the mind of a fox and make your garden as unattractive and unwelcoming a place as possible, to enable it to be a more welcoming place for you!
Should we be feeding urban foxes?
Research doesn’t suggest ‘explosion’ in urban fox population
Contrary to what many may think, there isn’t any solid scientific evidence to suggest that the urban fox population has hugely increased.
In fact, what studies have shown is that as our urban areas have grown, foxes living in our towns and cities have simply grown at the same rate.
But it’s not the crazy explosion of ‘killer foxes’ that some media outlets would have us believe.
Here’s some research to back up that statement:
In 1999, the Game Conservancy Trust’s ‘National Gamebag Census‘ estimated that there were around 33,600 urban foxes in the UK.
In 2012, the preliminary results of the survey conducted on Channel 4’s ‘Foxes Live: Wild In The City‘ series, suggested there were around 40,000 urban foxes.
That’s a gap of 13 years, during which a lot of development has taken place in urban areas across the country, so the relative increase in foxes is to be expected.
A human cause for urban fox success
As the urban human population increases, more and more facilities are required to support this growth.
This sees an increase in things like restaurants, bars, cafes, takeaways, mini-supermarkets, all of which inadvertently provide sustenance for foxes.
Add in the fact that households waste an awful lot of food, along with many councils not providing wheelie bins and resorting to fortnightly collections, it means that there’s a very human cause behind urban foxes thriving.
Well-known wildlife expert and TV personality, Chris Packham has put it well:
“The fox population is self-regulating. If there’s not enough food, the foxes will move elsewhere or they will stop breeding. The problem in cities is we waste so much food. We drop our takeaways and so much other stuff, that foxes are able to prosper. There’s never any need to pull the trigger on [cull] them. If we just cleaned up our cities, with more bins and more responsible action, then we would have less foxes.”
Are foxes tamer than in the past?
A question that isn’t often asked is whether urban foxes have lost their fear of humans over the last 20 – 30 years.
The research done on 2012’s Foxes Live programme, headed by University of Brighton’s Dr Dawn Scott, found that 1.5% of people who took part in their survey reported the problem of foxes actually coming into their house.
Dr Scott was very surprised by this figure and admitted it was much higher than she had expected. However, without any data to compare this to, it’s really just an interesting statistic rather than anything conclusive about behavioural changes.
Which brings us round to the issue of humans feeding foxes. It’s a thorny issue that seems to polarise opinion among the public.
A recent phone in on Vanessa Feltz’s BBC London Radio Show had several members of the public calling in to say how much they love foxes, how they’ve always fed them and how they have no intention of stopping.
But, crucially, the ‘what’s the harm in feeding foxes’ view is generally held by people who are not experts on wildlife.
What do the experts say about feeding foxes?
Chris Packham, who is a fan of foxes, says:
“These animals shouldn’t be hand-fed. They shouldn’t be encouraged too close to people. If you’re going to feed them, feed them at a great distance and watch them through binoculars. We don’t want to tame a fox who could confuse someone else [who doesn’t like foxes] for you.”
Peter Crowden, Pest Control Specialist & Chairman of the National Pest Technician’s Association (NPTA):
“The problem isn’t the foxes, they unfortunately have got a very bad label. The problem is the people. We have got to educate the people not to feed and encourage foxes into their homes. You can’t cuddle a fox, they are very dangerous wild animals. Numbers of foxes have not increased over the last 30 years, but a fox cannot tell the difference between a house that is happy to provide it with a source of food and one that is not.”
Dr Roger Mugford, Animal Behaviourist & founder of The Animal Behaviour Centre:
“In the country, foxes are very averse to human contact, but in London it’s different. They associate humans with food… I think it’s human behaviour that has to change and that means not feeding foxes. I think education is the way forward. I know foxes are beautiful creatures and they’re wonderful to watch, but let them be wild. By changing their mindset and turning them into semi-domesticated animals, we endanger them.”
The views of the experts quoted here do make logical sense. However fluffy and cute some of us may think they are, ultimately foxes are wild animals who are more than capable of fending for themselves without the need to receive human handouts.
Of course, it’s impossible to prove that the foxes who attacked baby twins, bit the finger off of a baby or who were caught licking a baby’s face had been the recipient of food from other people in the area, but humans trying to tame foxes by feeding them probably does more harm than good.
Foxes are a part of the urban landscape and we should count ourselves lucky that we get to see them at such close quarters.
But the statistics show that foxes are doing just fine and do not need extra help from us. Laws against feeding foxes are not necessary, but people should really think twice before (quite selfishly) putting out food for a species that doesn’t need it.
If you live in an area that has foxes, you’re inevitably going to see them whether you put food out or not.
Why encourage an animal that doesn’t need encouragement?
Reasons For Fox Repellent #3 – Screaming
Anyone who has experienced foxes coming into their garden or even somewhere in their neighbourhood will be familiar with the sound of foxes screaming.
It is loud, incredibly unsettling and is one of the main reasons people buy fox repellent to keep foxes away from their garden.
So why do foxes scream?
There are several reasons why foxes scream and bark so loudly. It is not usually foxes fighting or crying out in pain as many assume.
Often it is used to contact each other as although their defend a joint family territory, the fox is usually alone and uses the scream to locate another family member.
It can be used to protect the territory and ward off potential intruders and enemies.
Most commonly however the screaming can be heard most during December and January as part of the mating season.
In his book Wild Fox: A Complete Study of The Red Fox, Roger Burrows states that the screaming is done prior to and after copulation attempts.
Often it is the vixen looking for a mate and is a normal part of fox behaviour, but nevertheless can be blood-curdling to the human ear.
What can I do to stop foxes screaming?
As previously mentioned, screaming is part and parcel of the social interactions of foxes, so there isn’t anything you can do to keep a fox quiet. Even keeping foxes out of your garden will not necessarily stop you from hearing them.
If the foxes are in a neighbouring area then, as you are probably already aware, the screaming is so loud you are likely to still hear it.
Will fox repellent help?
Fox repellent will definitely help keep foxes away and therefore minimise the impact of the blood curdling screams, if not completely eradicate it.
Placing a Foxwatch Fox Repellent Unit at the place the fox enters the garden will act as a successful deterrent and will scare the fox away.
Alternatively, dowsing your garden with the eco-friendly ‘Scoot Fox Repellent’ is a very cost effective way at confusing and repelling foxes.
An incredibly popular and successful fox repellent that more and more people seem to be buying to deal with keeping screaming foxes out of their garden is Contech ScareCrow Fox Repellent device, which uses a motion sensor and sprays out a jet of water which startles and frightens the fox.
There are various ways to keep foxes away to keep the annoyance of their screaming to a minimum.
However frustrating the screams are however, please remember that the fox is a wonderful animal that we are lucky to have in our country and it is a normal part of a fox’s behaviour. Show a little tolerance please!
Get Off My Garden Fox Repellent Review – For deterring foxes from specific parts of your garden, using a cheap, eco-friendly gel containing citronella
FoxWatch Fox Repellent Review – For scaring foxes foxes away using motion detectors and sonic booms specifically targetting foxes
Scoot Fox Repellent Review – Cheap and effective fox repellent for blanket coverage of your garden using ammonium powder dissolved in water
List of Top 10 Fox Repellents on Amazon – Quick list of 10 effective and well-priced deterrents delivered directly to your door from Amazon.
Reasons For Fox Repellent #4 – Mange
Many homeowners, pet owners and parents have heard about foxes carrying mange and the protection of ourselves, our pets and children are one of the main reasons we seek to buy an effective fox repellent.
Understandably, we have all heard rumours of the horrors of mange and automatically associate it with foxes, therefore causing the deterrent of foxes from our gardens to be of top priority.
Although most people have heard of mange and even use the word ‘mangy’ as an adjective to describe something dishevelled and unpleasant, there are surprisingly few simple explanations of mange given in the fox repellent industry that help people to understand exactly what it is.
Symptoms Of Mange In Foxes
The most common form of mange in foxes is sarcoptic mange which is caused by a parasitic mite burrowing into the skin of the fox. This in turn causes an itching sensation resulting in the fox scratching and scratching resulting in infection and hair loss.
The effects of sarcoptic mange can be quite severe and can lead to the death of a fox within 6 months, if the infection is not treated.
The hair loss means the fox will no longer be able to keep warm and eventually no longer be able to hunt for food effectively, leading to quite a sad, slow and painful death.
Foxes can be infected with mange in a variety of ways, including direct contact with another animal or via walls or fences that another infected animal has brushed past, leaving a trail of parasites.
While it is important to note that foxes can pass mange onto dogs, you should not unduly panic as transmission between these two animals is relatively rare.
However, making use of a good fox deterrent such as spraying Scoot Fox Repellent around your garden, or placing a sonic device such as the FoxWatch Fox Deterrent at the point where you believe the fox enters your garden, should be enough to keep foxes away.
It is also worth noting that most fox diseases cannot be transmitted to cats. Should your dog catch mange from an infected fox, a trip to the vet and a course of medication should resolve the issue fairly quickly.
Mange can in rare cases be passed onto humans, but usually the symptoms are very mild and usually only involve a slightly itchy rash.
Slightly more cause for concern would be young children catching toxocariasis, which is also harboured by foxes.
Use A Fox Repellent To Keep Mange Away
In general however, mange is a disease that is easily treatable, but it is sensible for you to take precautions.
If you are looking for an effective fox repellent to make sure that foxes keep out of your garden, then please take a look at Fox Repellent Experts Top 10 Fox Repellent List for reviews and further information on the effectiveness of the repellent.
As always, when trying to repel foxes and stop the danger of mange, you may find that you need to try a few different fox repellents before you find one that suits you.
So please be patient and persevere because a fox’s behaviour cannot be changed overnight. They need frequent reminders that your garden is out of bounds and eventually they will learn to stay away.
Reasons For Fox Repellent #5 – Toxocariasis
In addition to the threat that mange can provide to your dogs, a slightly less publicised disease that foxes can carry is toxocariasis. This can be potentially very serious because of the threat it can pose to young children and may prompt you to get in the market for some fox repellent.
Toxocara Found In Fox Droppings
The toxocara roundworm is very commonly found in the faeces of foxes and dogs. The eggs are very resilient and studies have shown that they can remain in grass or soil and cause infection from between 2-4 years after the faeces has been washed away.
At it’s absolute worst, untreated toxocariasis can lead to permanent blindness, although it must be stressed that this is the most extreme outcome. Often the symptoms are headaches, sore throat or stomach upsets.
Foxes With Toxacara Roundworm Can Pose A Threat To Small Children
If you own a dog, you can have it treated and be fairly confident that it does not carry any unwanted diseases, however foxes are wild animals and you cannot have the same certainty.
Toxocariasis can develop only when the eggs of the roundworm are swallowed. This is why young children are particularly at risk because of they often crawl around on the ground and put things in their mouth.
Choosing a good fox repellent to keep foxes out of your garden is an excellent way to minimise the risk of a child getting toxocariasis.
Fox Repellent Expert’s Fox Repellent Top 10 is a great place to start if you are unsure of what fox deterrent you should buy.
This site has in-depth reviews of the FoxWatch Fox Deterrent, the easy to use Scoot Fox Repellent, and Get Off My Garden Cat & Dog Repellent as well, so you should be able to find a repellent you like the look of.
Be Patient When Selecting The Right Fox Repellent
Please bear in mind that it may take a few attempts for you to get the right fox deterrent that suits you best, but please stick with it and you will find that foxes start to stay clear of your garden, therefore minimising the risks of your child or pet catching toxocariasis and other diseases or inconveniences.
Protecting Your Car From Foxes
I’ve recently had a few people contact me regarding foxes causing damage to their cars.
One gentleman had an issue with foxes chewing his car’s vinyl roof, another was getting scratched paint work, whilst a lady contacted me for ideas on how to stop foxes chewing wires underneath her car.
Having to fix a car because a fox has caused damage to it is incredibly frustrating, inconvenient and often expensive, so I’ve come up with a few ideas for you to try to keep the foxes away and off your car!
Depending on whether you park your car in a driveway, in your garden or on the street, you need to decide which option would work best for you.
Cover your car with a car cover or a tarpaulin
If you have a problem with foxes (or cats for that matter) jumping up on your car and causing damage to the paintwork, then a simple and cost effective solution is to buy a car cover.
They are available in a range of sizes, are often water resistant and don’t take much time to put on or remove. If you’re looking for something inexpensive just to protect your paintwork, then a manufacturer called Maypole do car covers in small, medium and large, so you can select one according to the size of your car.
See all car cover options »»
Alternatively, another more heavy duty option is to buy a large piece of tarpaulin. This will keep foxes off of your paintwork and, if you buy a large enough piece, it can protect the underside of your car also.
You can secure the overhanging tarpaulin to the ground with something heavy like bricks, or fastening it with tent pegs (if parked on grass). T
his will make the underside of the car inaccessible to foxes, therefore protecting against chewed wires. There is a range of tarpaulin on Amazon so try and make sure you buy tarpaulin large enough that you can fix it to the ground.
Put a portable radio in or under your car
Obviously I’m not advocating leaving your car stereo on all night, otherwise you’ll come down in the morning to a flat battery.
But you can get very cheap but very functional battery-powered or wind up radios that will do the job.
Tune it to a station that has only conversation (e.g. Radio 4) and put it in or under your car. The foxes will hear the voices and think humans are close by which should be enough to keep them away.
To see how surprisingly effective radios are in keeping foxes away, please read my article on Using a Radio as A Fox Repellent here »»
Spray Scoot Fox Repellent around your car
In addition to the above two options, you can also use Scoot to spray on the ground where you park your car.
This is probably more applicable if you park your car in the same place each night and maybe not so easy if you park on the street.
Scoot works by covering any scent left by a fox and makes the foxes think that another animal has claimed the territory.
The fox will want to avoid any conflict and after a short while will leave the area alone. Scoot is easy to mix into a solution and is not harmful to pets or the environment, but could help in keeping foxes away from your car.
Hopefully one of these options, or a combination of options, has provided you with food for thought on how to protect your car from the unwanted attention of foxes.
You must understand that repelling foxes is rarely something that can be achieved overnight, but by making your car as unappealing to a fox as possible, the fox will soon get the message and turn it’s attention elsewhere.
Where is the best place to buy effective fox deterrents?
You’ve established you have a fox problem in your garden. You’ve decided to do something about it by purchasing some fox repellent.
You’ve assumed that Homebase or B&Q are the best places to buy it, right? Actually that’s wrong! So where is the best place to buy a deterrent for foxes in the UK? Read on…
Homebase or B&Q do not sell fox repellent products!
One of the most popular misconceptions is that you can buy fox repellent from Homebase.
People searching going onto Google and searching for “Fox Repellent Homebase” is an incredibly popular search term.
Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, Homebase currently offer only 6 repellent products on their website and none are aimed at foxes.
As well as having no specific fox repellents, the repellents that are on the Homebase site are not available for home delivery.
It’s the same story for B&Q. B&Q also do not stock a specific fox repellent product and again, the deterrents they do have can only be purchased in-store. A visit to your local pet shop is highly likely to result in the same disappointing outcome. So where to go?
Fox Repellent on Amazon
The above assertions are not advocating a boycott of Homebase, B&Q or local pet shops. All provide an invaluable service, however in the case of fox repellents, they are not the best option.
Perhaps surprisingly, the widest choice of fox repellents can be viewed at Amazon.co.uk. The prices are normally lower than anywhere else and you get the repellent delivered directly to your home, often at no extra cost.
This means no unnecessary trips to a busy town centre or out-of-town leisure park only to discover the store doesn’t stock what you need.
The ‘Garden & Outdoors’ section on Amazon is a goldmine for repellent products where you can browse detailed descriptions, buyers reviews, occasional demonstration videos and also see if any third party sellers are beating Amazon’s prices.
The Amazon third party seller section is a serious rival to ebay and you can browse a sellers’ feedback history before ordering in much the same way.
Many of these third party products are fulfilled by Amazon too, which can often include their free shipping offers. As if this wasn’t enough, you are also presented with a very accurate ‘More Items To Consider’ section which offers up similar items based on your search.
This can lead you to very suitable repellent products that you perhaps wouldn’t realise existed previously.
If you are contemplating buying a fox repellent for your garden, then consider making Amazon your first port of call. You may find it saves you both valuable time and money!
To get you started, below are links to some of the most popular fox repellents on the market. Have a look around and see if you can find a fox deterrent that fits your needs and your budget.
Scoot Fox Repellent
FoxWatch Fox Deterrent
Havahart Spray Away Water Scarecrow
Get Off My Garden Repellent Gel Crystals
Defenders Mega Sonic Repeller
