Hello this is Ben from the Fox Repellent Expert website and welcome to episode 9 of this podcast.

In this episode I’m going to look at how long it can take to deter foxes from your garden, what factors might influence this process and how to realistically set your expectations for success.

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So, you’ve bought a fox repellent product, you’ve just used it in your garden, now how long do you have to wait before the foxes disappear?

Well, the thing to keep in mind about foxes is that they are very resourceful and adaptable animals who don’t give up easily. You will have experienced this yourself, I’m sure. They’re able to thrive in places like the Arctic and the Sahara desert, as well as Britain’s towns and cities, so we’re dealing with an animal that knows what it takes to survive.

Deterring foxes is not an exact science, so it’s difficult to put an specific figure on how long it will take to keep them away. For example, if you’ve got several foxes that visit your garden, it’s probably going to take longer to deter them than if you’ve only got one fox visiting. Foxes that have made a den in or nearby your garden will take longer to move on than a fox that just passes through.

You also need to decide what your definition of successful fox deterrence actually is. Would you be happy if the fox stopped digging so much in your flowerbeds or do you want to get to the point where you never set eyes on a fox in your garden again. If it’s the former, installing some prickle strips in the problem areas should see an instant improvement. If it’s the latter, you’re going to have to be very patient and take a much longer-term view to achieve your goal. If you live somewhere with a very high population of urban foxes, you might have to face the fact that you’ll only ever be able to reduce their visits rather than banishing them completely. A treatment rather than a cure.

Foxes are territorial animals and in one way or another they see your garden as part of their territory. They don’t give up territories easily and they will always try to strengthen their control and increase their dominance if they feel their authority is being challenged.

So when you use a fox deterrent of any type for the first time, you can be almost 100% sure the fox will come back to your garden to check out what’s going on. If there’s a new smell, a new sound or a new obstacle in its territory, the fox will want to know what it is, if it’s a temporary or permanent inconvenience and whether it can overpower it or not. Foxes will rarely just disappear overnight, never to be seen again. That’s not in their nature.

This is an important point because many people will use a deterrent for the first time and then get discouraged if they initially see a fox back in the same area sniffing, digging, pooing or spraying urine. At this point the person normally gives up, thinking that the deterrent hasn’t worked without realising that this is just a normal fox reaction and they just need to push through this period so that the fox starts learning to associate the garden with the deterrent, which leads to them reducing the frequency and duration of their visits.

I don’t think that fox repellent manufacturers do a particularly good job of explaining what happens after you’ve used a deterrent, so I hope I’m doing a bit better getting the point across. The more frequently and more often you can use a fox deterrent, the more likely you’re going to see the success that you’re looking for. You just need to be patient while this process takes place.

I’d advise you to assess the impact of any fox deterrent you use over the course of at least a month. See if the fox problems are reducing over that period. Are you filling in holes or clearing up poo less often than you were before. Are you seeing the foxes less frequently? Are they spending less time in your garden when they do visit? This is all realistic, gradual progress, rather than using a deterrent on Tuesday and expecting the foxes to have completely disappeared by Wednesday.

Sometimes it will be quicker than a month, sometimes longer…but a month is a good approximate time-frame as it allows sufficient time for the process of fox behavioural change to take place and enables you to have enough opportunity to see if the situation in your garden is improving.

In the show notes for this episode, I’ll put a link to the FoxWatch Ultrasonic Deterrent, which is a great way of automating the process of teaching foxes to keep away from your garden. I’ll also include a link to Scoot Fox Repellent, which is a scent based deterrent for those of you who like to be a bit more hands-on. I’ll also put in the article 10 Reasons Foxes Come Into Your Garden, so you can have a look at what might be encouraging foxes into your garden. If you can remove the temptations, you’ll go a long way to persuading foxes that it’s not worth coming into your garden in the first place.

That’s it for this episode of the Fox Repellent Expert podcast. I hope it’s been helpful and realistic in setting your expectations for dealing with the foxes in your garden, even if it’s not the quick-fix solution some of you might have been hoping for. The show notes to this episode are available at foxrepellentexpert.com/episode9 

If you want any more information on how to humanely deter foxes from your garden, please visit foxrepellentexpert.com. Thanks for listening and I’ll see you next time.