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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be annoyed with neighour feeding the fox

146 replies

Pat123dev · 23/11/2021 18:14

My neighbour feeds the fox, which has now turned to foxes, they keep eating my chickens. They are having to be shut in to protect them, which miserable!!

We've had an offer of help by shooting them. I said to my neighbour we wouldn't do that, of she stops feeding them. She thinks I'm unreasonable.

We've had the odd fox attack over the years, it's part of country life, but now we're over run they literally take any birds and fight with dogs and attack the cat.

OP posts:
Pat123dev · 23/11/2021 20:21

@GodIsAVegan

OP, your first post was about your chickens being killed, then you changed the focus to be on your children and safety because you didn’t get the answers you wanted. 🙄

You don’t like foxes. You think you should be able to control your neighbours. You can’t.

Apologies for not proof reading my post......Hmm
OP posts:
Pat123dev · 23/11/2021 20:22

If I knew how to blur his face I'd post the video.

OP posts:
WiddlinDiddlin · 23/11/2021 20:27

Foxes don't attack cats?

What utter bollocks - I've seen it via CCTV, big dog fox, decided our back garden was his, stalked the bloody cat and jumped it. Huge fight between the two and the cat survived (my dad ran out and lobbed a bucket at them) but was injured, and it was a big cat as well, not a dinky little kitty, huge strapping farm cat.

And that was a truly wild country fox, we also watched him corner young badgers and attempt to take them on. We didn't feed him, no one in the area fed foxes, he'd just decided this was his patch.

If you feed foxes they will decide that area is their territory and some will defend it, by shitting everywhere, pissing up stuff and physically in some cases.

Fed foxes still have the natural desire to hunt and kill but not the need for the food so are more likely to rip into chicken coops and runs, rabbit hutches etc, and then leave the bodies.

Fed foxes tend to have less fear of dogs/humans and so are bolder, and feel much more confident to defend territory.

Feeding foxes is not to their benefit really (if you can put manage and worm treatments in their food that might help them), it stops them practicing hunting, reduces their fear of roads, people, dogs etc, stops them teaching their offspring where to hunt, stops them pushing their offspring to disperse either. In the end, it turns the beautiful wild animal into a feral parasite on human waste.. big red rats really.

OP - they won't like motion activated sprinklers much though the jet will need to be powerful enough to dissuade them from playing with it.
Allegedly they dont like human male wee... not sure if you dislike the foxes enough to send a bloke weeing round the perimeter of your garden though.

Get a bigger dog...

Franca123 · 23/11/2021 20:28

From seeing the foxes behaviour round us when they were being fed, I can fully believe that the foxes bothering the OP are this tame. I don't think this is at all controversial to state.

Wheresmywoolyjumpers · 23/11/2021 20:31

There is a big difference between the natural balance in your local eco system and someone making a vermin problem. We had the same problem with a neighbour feeding feral cats years ago and it was a nightmare. There was a difference between a few pets coming in and peeing from time to time - to hoards of feral cats making the whole place stink, fighting with each other and then wandering around with festering wounds until they died. However much food she put out she could not keep up. Couldn't leave the doors open, had to watch any pets or kids. The last straw was when I came down and found one eating a kitten on my door step. The animal control officers were involved in the end and threatened her with action. For this situation, you have to ask her to stop, this is causing a population imbalance and changing natural behaviours. For those people defending the feeding - would you be ok if she were feeding the rats?

sussexoldspot · 23/11/2021 20:32

A cat owner complaining about birds getting killed and toxic poo everywhere? Blimey.

MyCatHatesWhiskas · 23/11/2021 20:34

I have some sympathy for you here, much as I dislike the idea of foxes being shot. Our NDN feeds badgers. Adorable and beautiful animals, right? Except they have dug huge holes under the fences to cross our garden and one of our neighbours is actually worried about the stability of his fence.

I’m not really sure what the solution is for us - NDN is very open about feeding them, films them and posts on social media. But I just don’t think it’s a great idea. (Our garden is messy enough that the tunnelling isn’t the worst thing in the world but could do without it.)

TyrantosaurusRex · 23/11/2021 20:39

My neighbour is also doing this daily, but my biggest problem with it is that on occasion I've seen them put out a cooked chicken carcass for them which is not only dangerous for the foxes but also for passing dogs & cats which I had to wrestle both off of it, cat went back though

Pixiedust1234 · 23/11/2021 20:39

Two things have come to mind

  1. You cannot complain about your neighbours feeding the foxes if you don't proactively protect your chickens by putting them away at night and fox proofing their shed. You are basically feeding them too but with added enrichment like they do in zoos
  1. Are the neighbours just placing food out for them or are they trying to handfeed them or get them to feed outside the backdoor? I put out pears and hedgehog food which my foxes eat (although they scatter when piggy goes near them) but they do not associate me/humans with it and I put it as far away from my house as possible. They know a place and time but not who. I have set up various cameras so I can watch the next day. Hedgehogs get first dibs, then cats, then dog foxes, vixens and finally the youngsters. Now the youngsters might get a bit cheeky while investigating/learning but the cats and piggies soon teach them manners. If your neighbours are handfeeding then ask them to stop that and feed further away from the house, might be a good comprise.
Justheretoaskaquestion91 · 23/11/2021 20:40

People who don’t believe foxes will brazenly come into gardens during the day or that they attack pets just haven’t had the same experiences. Honestly they are absolutely little fucking shits if you have to deal with them.

Having said that, also very keen to hear for cat deterrents too because the neighbour’s cat also shits in my garden and I really object to having to pick that up since it’s not my pet nor even a wild animal!

GodIsAVegan · 23/11/2021 20:40

Apologies for not proof reading my post......hmm

It’s nothing to do with proofreading. You changed the whole focus of your post because people said you were unreasonable.

Pixiedust1234 · 23/11/2021 20:42

oh... and a good side effect for me is that any mice or rats that show their little faces only last a few days before they um...vanish. they come for the spills from peoples bird feeders. Nearly every neighbour has a bird feeder

Kikkomam · 23/11/2021 20:48

@Pixiedust1234

Two things have come to mind
  1. You cannot complain about your neighbours feeding the foxes if you don't proactively protect your chickens by putting them away at night and fox proofing their shed. You are basically feeding them too but with added enrichment like they do in zoos
  1. Are the neighbours just placing food out for them or are they trying to handfeed them or get them to feed outside the backdoor? I put out pears and hedgehog food which my foxes eat (although they scatter when piggy goes near them) but they do not associate me/humans with it and I put it as far away from my house as possible. They know a place and time but not who. I have set up various cameras so I can watch the next day. Hedgehogs get first dibs, then cats, then dog foxes, vixens and finally the youngsters. Now the youngsters might get a bit cheeky while investigating/learning but the cats and piggies soon teach them manners. If your neighbours are handfeeding then ask them to stop that and feed further away from the house, might be a good comprise.
They aren't your foxes.

The OP has every right to be fucked off

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 23/11/2021 20:48

@MrsSkylerWhite

The foxes walk around my garden even when we have children there, if my 10 year old wants to play football, we need to stand out with him as the foxes will come regardless“

That sounds like nonsense.

It is. Absolute bs.
Kikkomam · 23/11/2021 20:49

Why the fuck do people feed foxes
Absolutely mad. They are wild animals, have some respect!

Tototipple · 23/11/2021 20:52

Foxes will happily kill every chicken if they get into a run - they don’t kill just to eat. They kill to kill. And may eat some if hungry. But one fox will happily kill all of the birds in the run.

Foxes may be nocturnal but I see a lot of them. The one MIL feeds comes in the day, sunbathed on her wall and will come into the house seeking food.

And she wonders why DC aren’t allowed to stay

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 23/11/2021 20:53

@Kikkomam

Why the fuck do people feed foxes Absolutely mad. They are wild animals, have some respect!
I see you ignored my previous response.
Pixiedust1234 · 23/11/2021 20:54

mistype. The foxes that visit my garden as opposed to other foxes. But you know that Hmm

Itsnotallaboutyoubaby · 23/11/2021 20:54

We rehomed our chickens because of this… we live in a town. Few doors down started feeding the foxes and they had a whole family of them there in the end. We couldn’t let the chickens out, and they had been used to roaming the whole garden. We only had four hens and no roosters so they weren’t annoying the neighbours. Kindest thing to do in the end was rehoming. I couldn’t bear seeing them cooped up in the run and I definitely couldn’t have another one killed / attacked. You have my sympathy.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 23/11/2021 20:54

@Tototipple

Foxes will happily kill every chicken if they get into a run - they don’t kill just to eat. They kill to kill. And may eat some if hungry. But one fox will happily kill all of the birds in the run.

Foxes may be nocturnal but I see a lot of them. The one MIL feeds comes in the day, sunbathed on her wall and will come into the house seeking food.

And she wonders why DC aren’t allowed to stay

They kill for food. Not just to kill. Ffs. They're not humans.

They will do multiple journeys for all the chickens and hide them. They just normally get disturbed before they've finished.

Pat123dev · 23/11/2021 20:56

@Pixiedust1234

She has them coming up to her kitchen door, 3/4 times a day while she's there, Feeds those that come and then leaves extra out.

OP posts:
Kikkomam · 23/11/2021 20:58

Why? Why not feed foxes but hedgehogs and birds are ok to feed? Who makes those rules?

Because they are apex predators and don't need to be fed by humans. They are destructive and a PITA when they become too reliant on humans.

AllThingsServeTheBeam · 23/11/2021 21:01

@Kikkomam

Why? Why not feed foxes but hedgehogs and birds are ok to feed? Who makes those rules?

Because they are apex predators and don't need to be fed by humans. They are destructive and a PITA when they become too reliant on humans.

Well when they're suffering from mange and the only way to medicate them is to feed them food with the medication it in, how do you go about that? And my foxes aren't destructive PITA.
derxa · 23/11/2021 21:04

@Kikkomam

Why the fuck do people feed foxes Absolutely mad. They are wild animals, have some respect!
It's wrong on every level
Whitefire · 23/11/2021 21:07

The foxes will stroll through our garden in the day, but usually hot foot it if they see anyone. I should maybe mend the fence panel that they use to get in and out of the garden.

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