A fox jumped on my bed last night!

[largeprintagathachristie]

Feeling a little shaken by two visits into the bedroom by a fox over the last two nights. Ground floor flat in urban area. Lots of urban foxes around. I've always actually loved seeing them around late at night (and sometimes in the daytime) but what's happened just feels too close.

Bedroom has patio doors but no window whatsoever, so I tend to have the door open a bit for ventilation; just enough for the cat to get through. We're protected from the road by vegetation and a fence. We don't have a garden.

Night one: DP and I woken by a mighty kerfuffle in the bedroom, unearthly fox screech, cat going bananas etc. In the morning found one of DP's slippers (well, slides) outside some metres away.

Stupidly I thought that was a one off and left the bedroom door open again for ventilation last night, just enough for the cat to get through. At what turned out to be 2.30am, same kerfuffle only much much more. A fox was on the bed - it was all so fast but DP says he hit out at it and it dashed back out. I rushed to look outside and saw the outraged cat chasing a fox around the corner of the property. There are muddy fox-sized paw prints on the white bottom sheet which is where it landed, and obvious muddy claw marks

Two items of evidence outside this morning:

• a half eaten piece of toast I assume scavenged and dropped
• a manky stinky pair of jogging bottoms, not ours, probably scavenged from the charity clothing bin nearby where there's usually a pile of clothes on the ground

I always thought reports of foxes coming into houses were a bit of a myth so I'm a bit disconcerted. And on hot nights I really really need to be able to have the bedroom door open more than a crack.

Am googling deterrent ideas but any thoughts welcome.
We're definitely on its nightly route.

@largeprintagathachristie

So I came to you with a fox problem and in fact I may have a potential burglar problem!

I do see what you mean. We're far back from the street (there's a massive area of grass between us and the road, before the hedge and the fence, and in summer (which is the only time the door's open) the vegetation is really high and we're hidden from view.

But indeed not burglar proof.

I do tend to think nothing bad is ever going to happen (until it does) so this is all food for thought, thank you.

That's literally perfect burglar/other evil bastard fare. Nobody will see them sneaking in through the open door whilst you sleep.

@Puffinhead

Close the doors!! I heard on Jeremy Vine show about a fox that climbed through a ground floor bedroom window and a poor woman woke up to find the fox gnawing her lips! Stuff of nightmares.

Gnawing her lips??????

Yuck, nevermind foxes imagine all the bugs getting in.

You need a pair of shutters. Close the shutters and open the door. Or have an air con unit fitted. They are not that expensive. Keep the cat in. A hungry fox will kill a cat.

Give it a cuddle and it’s own bed?

Sorry, you leave your door facing the street open all night in Zone 3 London? That is not a good idea at all OP!! I imagined you in a nice village somewhere …

Tbh after the first incident you really shouldn’t have left your patio door open at all. A fox would have the strength to get through, glad you’re all safe, it could’ve been a lot worse!

A friend of mine in London woke to find a burglar at the bottom of her bed. It took her a very long time to recover from the fright.

I had a fox come through the cat flap

I had left a bin bag in the kitchen to take out in the morning. I blamed the cat for ripping open the bin bag to get to the chicken bones (something he had never done before And doesn’t even like chicken)

A few days later the cat got angry at something in the kitchen late at night I assumed another cat had come in

Then I walked into the kitchen one evening to see a little fox making his way out via the cat flap

Kept it locked after that

Oh wow this is so scary!

I also couldn’t leave my doors open at night. You never know who is watching / around.

You can have security grilles (sp?) fitted behind patio doors. Might be worth looking into - or having your doors replaced with a window opening at the top

When DD1 was born in summer 2010 we had her in a ground floor bedroom with French doors, the foxes used to come in the garden and I would panic and close the doors. DH thought I was nuts. Later that summer I read a news article from near us in London where a baby (a twin if I recall) was attacked in its cot by a fox. DH shut up pretty quickly after that :(

I was about to say that we leave doors unlocked and even our car keys live permanently in the ignition of the car 24/7 but then I see you are in London and I definitely would not do that 😂

I do keep the windows shut though as a possum once came in and it was terrifying.

I second closing up and getting a fan op!