Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to beg you for your fox solutions

108 replies

WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 14:06

We live in London in an area which seems to have a lot of foxes - they run around the streets quite happily during the day, and fox-shit/piss in the garden has always been a problem. I hate, really hate the smell.

We have a dog who goes nuts when she sees them in the garden at night and seems tense all evening, waiting for that to happen.

Recently one fox has started walking along our garden fence multiple times per night, right up to our big doors. It's like it's taunting us and her! It's pissing on everything, especially just outside the doors, and now that spring is coming opening them in the day lets the smell into the house.

Has ANYONE had any success with any kind of repellant?

I don't want to put curtains up (am quite uptight about the look of the room haha) but will probably have to bite the bullet

DH sprinkled his urine on the fence yesterday - fox did not GAF last night.Grin

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
StarlightLime · 27/04/2024 14:07

Lurking...
The buggers dug up all my newly planted patio fruit trees 😡

THNG5 · 27/04/2024 14:11

So far, I've tried lion poo pellets, sonar sensor with flashing lights and getting my husband to pee in a bottle and spread around the areas where the foxes defecate. Unfortunately, the fox has a den in a neighbouring garden and doesn't seem to care about anything I try!

TwelveTimesTables · 27/04/2024 14:24

We have this too. We keep a tent up in the garden through the summer and the fox bites through all the guy ropes. We tried kevlar ones and it bit through those too. So far bloke urine is working for us. DS thinks it's hilarious.

Apparently foxes bite through car brake cables too, so that's something to look forward to.

Would be glad of any tips to get the blighters to go away, though they are beautiful.

Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 14:27

Apparently foxes bite through car brake cables too, so that's something to look forward to.

Bloody hell! I do feel like the antipathy is ramping up but that's extreme Grin

I feel slightly torn because they're such beautiful creatures and when I see one out of the street I do gasp at the fairy tale magic of it, a bit.

OTOH they are shitting bastards.

OP posts:
Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 14:30

THNG5 · 27/04/2024 14:11

So far, I've tried lion poo pellets, sonar sensor with flashing lights and getting my husband to pee in a bottle and spread around the areas where the foxes defecate. Unfortunately, the fox has a den in a neighbouring garden and doesn't seem to care about anything I try!

thanks for this @THNG5 - the lion poo and the flashing sensor were the next things I was going to try.

There's a movement-activated water spray, wonder if anyone has tried that? Tho my poor cat will be collateral damage with that one..

OP posts:
MissMarplesGoddaughter · 27/04/2024 14:36

We had a lot of anti social fox behaviour too. It bit through the kid's football net, poo'd and wee'd in the garden, dug up plants, chewed any plastic balls left in the garden, etc. etc.. On one memorable occasion when I left the back door open early morning as I went round to the bins, it came into the house. I found it upstairs on the landing....

We tried all the usual solutions, but the only thing that worked was the NDN stopping feeding the foxes. Once this food supply stopped, they changed their habits and went elsewhere for food.

Wonderwater2 · 27/04/2024 14:40

WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 14:30

thanks for this @THNG5 - the lion poo and the flashing sensor were the next things I was going to try.

There's a movement-activated water spray, wonder if anyone has tried that? Tho my poor cat will be collateral damage with that one..

Show quote history

It really depends on the fox.

Most foxes are just after a bit of easy fun and food. Some will leave fairly easily but others are more determined

Rural foxes are much more likely to be frightened off by things like lights, city foxes will be well used to them. Some foxes hate water but others will play in them!

Be mindful that a lot of things sold as fox solutions will upset your pets. Anything ultrasonic will likely also wake your dogs and cats for example

Longdueachange · 27/04/2024 14:44

We are okay where we live as rural foxes are shy of people, if any become a pita we can get a local to come out with a rifle. You've probably got a knobhead of a neighbour feeding them - I don't suppose you could shoot them with a water gun?

Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 15:13

@Wonderwater2 all good points.

OP posts:
Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 15:15

@Longdueachange we’ve tried with the hose before but not a gun - suspect we wont be quick enough but worth a shot!

OP posts:
ChaosMoon · 27/04/2024 15:21

When I lived in London, I befriended the toughest, most psychotic, cat in the neighbourhood. Once she saw out garden as her own, she saw off all other cats and the foxes that used to come and sleep/shit there. I never had to pick up cat or fox poo again.

Not sure how your own (apparently milder mannered) cat would feel about that though...

Tagyoureit · 27/04/2024 15:22

Completely understand!!

I have to inspect the garden for worm ridden fox poos before letting DD out to play.
They are rife around here and I'm sure it the lady opposite me that's feeding them. I saw a fox carrying a tub of dog food up my driveway the other day, I'm always find them in my flower bed so someone is feeding them.

I read an article that said they don't like strong smells and suggested teabags soaked in deep heat. So we are going to try that next. Just waiting on dh to finish fixing the back fence before we try it.

ThinkingAgainAndAgain · 27/04/2024 15:35

We have urban foxes too, they’re around all day and all night. They’ve bitten through countless nets on Ds’s football goals, they cost loads to replace each time. We’ve tried the lion poo linked to previously and bloke wee and it’s made no difference. We’ve recently removed our old shed, which they enjoyed spending time behind, and that’s made no difference. I’m following for more tips.

wigywhoo · 27/04/2024 15:59

WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 14:06

We live in London in an area which seems to have a lot of foxes - they run around the streets quite happily during the day, and fox-shit/piss in the garden has always been a problem. I hate, really hate the smell.

We have a dog who goes nuts when she sees them in the garden at night and seems tense all evening, waiting for that to happen.

Recently one fox has started walking along our garden fence multiple times per night, right up to our big doors. It's like it's taunting us and her! It's pissing on everything, especially just outside the doors, and now that spring is coming opening them in the day lets the smell into the house.

Has ANYONE had any success with any kind of repellant?

I don't want to put curtains up (am quite uptight about the look of the room haha) but will probably have to bite the bullet

DH sprinkled his urine on the fence yesterday - fox did not GAF last night.Grin

Repeal the Hunting Ban!

DrJoanAllenby · 27/04/2024 16:08

Human male urine in a jog around the perimeter and they won't come back.

Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 16:12

DrJoanAllenby · 27/04/2024 16:08

Human male urine in a jog around the perimeter and they won't come back.

Unfortunately they did!

OP posts:
GreatGateauxsby · 27/04/2024 16:16

we got rid of them a few years back by demolishing the shed they were living under and concreting their home 😬

But the bastards are now back… we tried everything listed here but none of it has worked.

a neighbour a few doors down feeds them 😵‍💫 which I don’t think helps

Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 16:20

wigywhoo · 27/04/2024 15:59

Repeal the Hunting Ban!

Show quote history

No, because it's an incredibly stressful death and is primarily about humans taking pleasure in the killing. Also, not many hunts used to go through Zone 3.

OP posts:
Canuckduck · 27/04/2024 16:26

Uuugh we had them when we lived in SE London. One of them was so bold that it came in my flat when the door was open and stole shoes! We weren’t the only ones, we later found a cache of stranger’s shoes at the back of the garden. We lived near somewhere that didn’t dispose properly of food waste and lots of woods. Funny but smelly.

Original poster
WinterDeWinter · 27/04/2024 16:29

"I read an article that said they don't like strong smells and suggested teabags soaked in deep heat. "

@Tagyoureit that's interesting, will give that a go too.

OP posts:
DeathBy1000PipeCleaners · 27/04/2024 16:32

Motion-activated water jet! It worked on our persistent fox.

FictionalCharacter · 27/04/2024 16:35

DeathBy1000PipeCleaners · 27/04/2024 16:32

Motion-activated water jet! It worked on our persistent fox.

This is the one I'll try, I think. Which one did you buy?

Lampzade · 27/04/2024 16:35

Get a male to urunate in a bottle. Sprinkle it around the area required
Kept the foxes out of my garden

canyouletthedogoutplease · 27/04/2024 16:35

I've also got a dog that wants to end the urban foxes, have resorted to curtains over french doors, plus v large sheets of card over curtains held in place with dining chairs so dog can't get nose between curtains, plus loud white noise so dog can't hear foxes. A pre bed rigmarole but it's better than dog losing it at 4am because can hear foxes doing the tango on the patio.

Outside have put a motion activated hose sprayer trigger thing, which also seems to be working, much less shit and general fuckery out there recently.

They are a beautiful pain in the arse.

Swipe left for the next trending thread