Will human urine deter foxes from my garden?
We’ve all heard the jokey suggestion that going for a wee around the perimeter of your garden is a great ‘natural’ fox repellent and will keep foxes away.
But is going for an alfresco Pat Cash really an effective fox deterrent or is it simply an embarrassing waste of time, particularly if the neighbours catch you?
This article will explain whether or not urinating in your garden is actually the best way of getting rid of foxes. It will also provide you with some effective alternative solutions for keeping foxes away that you might find more practical.
Why is human urine even discussed as a fox deterrent?
Foxes have an incredible sense of smell and they use their own urine and faeces to mark out and secure their territories.
This ‘scent-marking’ sends out a message to neighbouring foxes that the territory (your garden) is currently occupied, and they should set up home elsewhere.
The theory is that spreading ‘man wee’ around the garden will give off a scent that makes the fox feel its territory is under threat.
And, as foxes are scared of humans, it won’t want to risk confrontation and will move somewhere safer.
Simple right? Well, unfortunately not quite.
Good in theory, impractical in reality
Theoretically, using male wee to deter foxes is not actually an outrageous suggestion.
Disrupting a fox’s normal behaviour and making it feel unsafe in its own territory is the best way to get a fox to leave your garden and go somewhere else.
If you can do something that creates an unwelcoming atmosphere in your garden, then you’re on the right path to solving your fox problems.
However, in practise, human urine is not the best way to go about it for a couple of behavioural and practical reasons.
1. Urban foxes are used to the smell of humans
Urban foxes differ from their country cousins due to their ability to thrive in very small territories that are usually in close proximity to humans.
While urban foxes are still scared of us if we get too close, they have adapted well to living alongside us and are used to seeing, hearing and smelling humans.
Therefore, the smell of human urine would not be as intimidating to an urban fox as it might be to a rural fox who rarely encounters humans.
If you’ve got a dog, you’re better off getting them to have a tinkle around the garden instead, as the fox will consider a dog much more of a rival than a human.
2. You can’t produce the amount of urine required
Another reason to disregard using human urine is the fact that foxes are very persistent creatures, as you’ve probably already experienced.
If you want to win the battle and reclaim your garden, you need to be more persistent than the fox.
Even by getting all of your family urinating in the garden on a regular basis (a ridiculous thought), you simply won’t be able to produce enough of your ‘natural deterrent’ to deter foxes over the long term.
Spare yourself the effort and embarrassment of getting a reputation as the neighbourhood slasher. There’s specifically-designed fox deterrents that will do the hard work for you instead.
Let’s look at those now.
The FOXWatch Ultrasonic Fox Deterrent
The FoxWatch is an unobtrusive little unit that sits in your garden letting off high-pitched bursts of noise each time a fox crosses it’s motion sensor.
You can think of it as a fox burglar alarm that triggers the fox’s ‘flight response’, which basically means the FoxWatch scares it into running away from your garden.
The reason the FoxWatch has become so popular among those driven mad by foxes is because it takes less than five minutes to set up and requires no ongoing effort to keep it effective.
“The fact that I can put the FoxWatch out into the garden and forget about it is great. It’s kept my back garden clear of foxes for nearly a year now.“
Mr Longman, Croydon
Ideally positioned facing the point the fox comes into your garden, the FoxWatch will sit there scaring off foxes whether it’s day or night and regardless of if you’re in or out.
Plus humans can’t hear the noise it makes, so you don’t have to worry about it annoying you or your neighbours.
Knowing the FoxWatch is providing 24 hour fox deterrence removes the worry of how to deal with the problem and allows you get on with your life, which should ultimately be the purpose of any fox deterrent.
The FoxWatch is available to purchase in our store for £69.95, including 12 Volt mains adapter, full operating instructions, 2-year manufacturer’s warranty and free UK delivery.
Scoot Fox Repellent
Scoot is a specially formulated powder that you dilute with water and spray around your garden, especially in the areas you’ve seen the fox urinating and where it comes into your garden.
It contains a scent that tricks the fox into thinking that another predator is trying to take over.
You keep spraying the Scoot around and eventually the fox feels too threatened and moves out of your garden and onto a safer territory.
While Scoot is initially cheaper than the FoxWatch, you do have to be persistent and use it multiple times before the fox will get the message.
So if you have anything other than a small garden, you may find that you get through a lot of it before it has the desired effect.
To keep up the potency of the scent, you need to be out in your garden every few days days to spray it. Fine if it’s good weather, not so nice if it’s not. If there’s heavy rain, you need to respray afterwards.
However, despite requiring more effort than the FoxWatch, Scoot is an effective option that is much better than weeing around your garden.
For a start, there’s more of it to spray around and you don’t have to be sneaky about doing it.
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