Help! How to get rid of fox family living under shed??

[BakedBeeeen]

We have a mother and 3 fox cubs living under the shed. They have dug a hole under the shed and got into our garden through a gap in the back of the fence (although they can actually jump over the fence).
They are basically using our garden as a playground all night, leaving bits of food around, sitting on all my plants and generally being a nuisance! I really need to get rid of them as I am worried about when those cubs get pregnant!! Also the thought of them living there really freaks me out. I don't want to kill them or anything horrible, I just don't want them in our garden! What can I use to get them out of their hole under the shed to block it off, and how do I deter them from coming back?

I don’t think you can whilst she has cubs

Once they have grown, they will leave on their own accord and then you can plug the hole up

Maybe contact RSPCA or similar and see if they’ll move them? Otherwise if you can wait until cubs a bit bigger and independent you could fill hole and put a large rock on top.

I would leave them while they're small and deal with it later.

This would be my kids' dream as they're into wildlife.

Some advice here. Good luck!

EdWinchester Yes unfortunately my kids love them! We were watching them early this morning and the kids were very excited. Unfortunately i find them really creepy (the foxes not the kids) and it makes me not want to spend time in our garden! I would love it if they went away if their own accord.

See this would be my dream as I adore foxes but I know it’s not ideal for everyone

At least let the vixen finish raising her cubs. They must be older cubs if you have seen them already.

They won’t breed in the same den as their mum. Mum won’t let them. She will chase them off once they reach maturity

Thanks all for the helpful advice. Soubriquet that is a relief!

Call environmental health, they will advise.

I would leave her till she’s finished raising the cubs. It would be a bit mean to evict her when’s she’s found somewhere safe away from predators.

Leave her alone, she’s just a mum doing what she can for her kids, same as you are!

If you are in the south contact the fox project, they will hrlp. Otherwise wait until they move on and take plenty of videos

We have this every year. We just leave them to it and they disappear once they are a bit older ( the cubs ).
You sometimes see the adults sunning themselves on the lawn but generally they stay out of the way .

We had the same last year, a vixen and four cubs. It was quite fascinating watching the cubs play out on the lawn at night. Yes we found the odd bone, so we just disposed of it. When they got bigger, they all moved on. I'm hoping we get the same this year, but so far nothing.

Put a base under the shed. Once you start mixing cement and disturbing the area they'll be off.
if uou don't concrete under the shed you'll also attract rats.

This is the advice from The Fox Project:

foxproject.org.uk/deterrence/

They recommend Fox-A-Gon if you're willing to pay for humane deterrence (and you're in the South East).

Personally I'd just leave the foxes be. They will all move on when the cubs are old enough to leave their mother. I'm very envious. Watching cubs grow up is a special experience.

Thanks for the advice. I am very happy to just leave them to their own devices if they eventually go. I didn't know if they would multiply like rabbits and we would have dozens - that is what I was worried about. But I won't be watching them play - they creep me out, I don't like thinking about them being there. I'm not an animal lover, I'm just not! (But that doesn't make me an animal hater!)

I love foxes. There’s a pair who hang out together where I live.

Hi,

I know this was a year ago, however we have the same this year. Can I ask what happened? Did they move on? Like you I’m definitely not enjoying it either. I don’t want to go out in the garden!

OP and her family were eaten. The foxes are now living in her house and claiming squatters rights and universal credit. And smoking in bed.

its been 3 months now since the fox family dug under the shed and moved in. I used scoot of a night as recommended by fox org and haven’t seen them for a few days or garden signs of playing/food or digging . It’s hard to see into the hole so how can I make sure they have gone before filling in the hole? Or should I wait until a better month - but then again I don’t want another family to move in? Help! Trying to be humane but stress for my curious cat who watches the shed 😬

This will sound horrid but my chicken keeper brother gave me this advice. Spray urine around the garden. Male urine seems to work best. We did this and the foxes did move on.

Thankyou. Have gathered some help from using Scoot which disguising their marking and makes them insecure, as does lights and motion lights etc . I think the best advice for knowing when they have left is rolling balls of newspaper around the entrance overnight which they will move if still there. Luckily mine has moved so I can now block and spray it - illegal to hurt or block when alive btw which I never wanted to do🤞🙏