To ask my neighbour to stop feeding to fucking foxes!

[Foxthefoxoff]

This is my first post so bare with me. Firstly I will say that I am a animal lover and vegetarian but any advice on Fox extermination or neighbour elimination will be greatly appreciated.

We live in a small cul de sac of 8 houses. One neighbour has been feeding foxes for years. We are now overrun with fat spoilt foxes that sleep in the road and barely move for cars. I have counted eight in the garden this morning. The smell is foul, they steal washing, we can't have any children's toys outside or garden furniture as they piss, shit and chew to death anything left out.

This is bad enough, but my main concern is that stupid fucking neighbour is feeding them raw chicken that they are bringing into my garden, happily dripping blood all over the patio. This morning I come down to two foxes on back step playing with raw chicken with all its lovely campylobacter, salmonella or god knows what else. DS is 21 months old I am scared to let him play in the garden for fear he becomes ill. They are so over fed they are playing with food rather than eating it. I have spoken to council who say they can't do anything.

I am at my wits end, any ideas? Wise MN'ers

Your toddler will build up a healthy immune system if exposed to germs

True for day to day germs. Salmonella and bacteria in fox poo isn’t quite the same.

OP the neighbour is the real problem. Report to environmental health and keep reporting. Fox proofing will also dramatically help although can be pricey.

You can get machines that make a noise only dogs can hear and they hate it. Would that work on foxes? I would think it a bit cruel to use one for an annoying barking dog as they are trapped in a garden but it might make foxes avoid the area?

I would put up with a lot to have fat foxes sleeping in the road.

@senioritabonita
And there it is. The voice of reason. Couldn't agree more.

Day to day exposure to a wide variety of pathogens will improve a child/s immune system but not salmonella and listeria from fox faeces.

There is a real lack of understanding of the needs of wild creatures in the UK - they don't need feeding or looking after, they should be strongly discouraged from 'lying in the road' because they can't identify which roads are safe with lovely kind vegetarians watching out for them and a dual carriageway.

Please speak to EVH as this is very dangerous for the poor foxes and an accident waiting to happen (usually a cat is killed or a dog attacked and then all the foxes are destroyed causing a huge upset and needless suffering)

Good post @Senioritabonita.
OP, speak to your neighbour.

Senorita is wise. the "aww, ickle wickle cutey foxy loxy" brigade are unhinged,

It's great seeing wildlife in our towns and cities. That wildlife can manage fine without us. There's something to be said for feeding birds when it snows, or putting food out for other small animals in extreme conditions.

But it's JUNE, food is at its most abundant and foxes do not need our help. Watch them from a distance. Post pictures of the snoozing on the patio on social media. But don't fucking feed them. it's not rocket science.

OP I agree that if a conversation with your neighbour does not solve the problem, it's time to get the council involved. If the foxes are being overfed and there's raw food around, this is going to attract rats too. It's a public health issue and the neighbour needs to stop it.

Thankyou so much for all your helpful replies . Im not sure how to at people but to answer a few questions... so far we have tried-

Fox proofing garden with wire at bottom of side gates. Spikes on top of 6ft fences. Foxes seem very adept at gaining access's hard to explain without you knowing layout of the property.

Tried the relocation method one bank holiday last year, did a reccy on the Friday to find suitable place to relocate. Bought trap from eBay. DH tarpaulined the car. At the end of the weekend it was Fox 10 DH 0 & all we caught was our own cat

We have tried scoot / pest away, these foxes are immune it seems.

I believe DH has tried the urinating but we have quite a fair size garden so I doubt he covered the entire perimeter. If better get him well hydrated.

Tried motion sensor water jets which were effective at keeping them away from back door but not the rest of the garden. Good for comedy value too when someone unsuspecting wandered by. Alas these were eventually dig up by them and attached hose pipe chewed to bits.

I have contacted contacted council and they won't pursue an antisocial behaviour or environmental health complaint as they say neighbour is doing nothing wrong .

I understand what people are saying about germs & immunity. I'm not a germphobe but the raw chicken is a health hazard. Poo you can see and remove or avoid. I have no idea where they have been dripping or leaving it.

I have to confront neighbour but unfortunately I am a massive chicken when it comes to confrontation ( no pun intended). I know people have spoken to her before so I don't know how to get her to listen.

Sorry just realised that was long.......

A woman in London I know of had one in her house and it dragged her sleeping baby by the arm-causing damage . In the news at the time. Speak to your neighbours. Tell them your concerns for your dd safety, she is making them not fear humans when they should imo.
And obviously the health /hygiene aspect.

I had a neighbour who did the same I had to o go proof my garden by removing blackberry bushes, filling in gaps under the fence so they didn't enter our garden. The male urine and lion poo from the garden centre didn't seem to work for us but the other stuff did. They still used to scream at night while reproducing but I guess they found other sources of food so shat elsewhere.

How do your other neighbours feel? Could you confront the fox neighbour together?

Oh, here's a thought. Could you call the RSPCA and ask them for advice, or to come and talk to the neighbour?

Definitely ring the council. Try and take photos of everything. The foxes in the road, in your garden, bits of chicken etc.

Your neighbour is an idiot. Foxes are wild animals, virtually impossible to domesticate and are dangerous.

In the meantime, I would investigate options to start fox proofing your garden.

People that feed foxes are awful human beings. And the most objectionable thing about them is that they somehow think they are more of a friend to animals than people who don't.

Tried motion sensor water jets which were effective at keeping them away from back door but not the rest of the garden. Good for comedy value too when someone unsuspecting wandered by

. I used them but I swear the animals learnt to avoid them quicker than I did. They used to soak me sometimes 😂😂😂.

She needs to stop feeding them chicken even if she won't stop feeding them.
If she refused start dumping the leavings on her door step along with the fox poo.
You will end up with rats and when it gets cold they may end up in the house.

You can hire exterminators to shoot the fox's. Maybe warn neighbour of this and if sfhe continues get them killed or put some poison down. Its a health hasard. Fox passing through is one thing but chucking raw chicken all over is not safe.

There's some info here OP:

foxproject.org.uk/deterrence/

There's no point in extermination as a new lot would just move in.

And to whoever said this: "you do realise you can love animals and eat them too" - can you really not see the hypocrisy and lack of logic in that statement?

OP if you get DH to urinate over a few days in a bottle an let it ferment that will work better. Try that, other than that speak to wildlife rescues they might be able to help you with relocating the foxes and speaking to the neighbour.

The OP has tried everything suggested in that not very helpful guide

I live in rural Norfolk and am surrounded by open fields and have never seen a fox....i had to laugh at the bit about op's trap catching her own cat....sorry not helpful.

Do you want to borrow my dad's sassy peahen? She's got a right attitude and doesn't take any shit. Spot will have those foxes running for the hills in minutes...however you'll have to wait till she's finished roosting, so three weeks from now.

My parents live in the middle of nowhere and never see foxes either. I think they're definitely becoming more of an urban phenomenon. Probably because idiots are feeding them.

That is awful. Wild animals that carry disease and could hurt a child should not be encouraged in residential spaces. And I like animals.

You need to try and reason with neighbour