There is very little that can be done by us to stop Foxes as they are excellent at climbing, burrowing and foraging. Our villages, towns and cities are abundant with the ideal food source for The Fox, OUR RUBBISH! I have even witnessed a Fox lift the lid on a wheelie bin and get inside. Watching the Fox get out was very entertaining!!
There are however things that we can do to control and eventually discourage these wild, very clever creatures.
Firstly, food is their main object and they will eat anything at this time of year, even newspaper and other animal faeces! Secondly they search out warm and dry conditions to whelp their new born.
Food
The source and supply of food is limited to what you can do to keep it at a minimum.
Clear up all windblown dropped food packaging. Keep your bin areas as clean as is possible. Wash your bins and the complete bin area regularly as The Fox is attracted to food by smell. Even though The Fox can climb, they are pretty lazy so keep your gates shut at night as a hopeful deterrent.
Contain your wheelie bins and recycling bins in a purpose built store and keep the complete area clean occasionally adding a disinfectant during the summer. Animal faeces should be collected from your garden and completely disposed of, out of smell range if possible. If you have fruit trees in your garden clear up all of the fallen fruit, albeit rotten and put them in the designated bin – generally keeping your garden area as free from The Fox food supply as is humanly possible.
Of course these animals are wild and are basically dogs. The Fox is a beautiful, wild and misunderstood creature and should be respected for just that. If we do our bit in keeping them out of our gardens in such a humane way then surely we are doing them and everybody a very big favour. Simply because if we do not feed them they will not be a wild pest to us and they will not, in turn, venture across the A120 and become road kill!!
Dry conditions
The Fox will search out dry and warm conditions for one main reason and that is so the Vixen (Female Fox, Dog being the male) can settle down and safely give birth to her cubs. Once they are born they will go back to our forests and learn to be The Fox that will come back and raid our generous food supply next year.
Decking is an area itself that will have avenues for the Vixens to get under and if there is the slightest gap between the deck and the ground they will burrow under and into its void, create a den and whelp her cubs. Make sure that any gaps between the ground and decked area is closed off. The Fox will dig but it needs to see an opening first and will only dig if The Fox deems it to be easy to do so.
So to sum up: Keep all food supplies to a bare minimum and don’t give The Fox a bed for the night!!
About the author
Mark Stradling is the owner of Mark's Garden Services - a local Bishop's Stortford garden maintenance specialist. From decking to fencing; ongoing gardening to winter clear-ups, you can rely on Mark's Garden Services for an expert, friendly, competitively-priced service.
