To consider giving up on food recycling because of fox incursion

[CarlaH]

I am just fed up with coming out in the morning to find our food waste strewn all over the road. We have to put our bins out the evening before as we can never tell when the binmen will come. At the moment they are coming mid morning but they did that before so we started putting our food waste bins out later only for them to return to coming at 6am.

We construct a sort of boxed in arrangement with our other bins because the fox had realised that if we sandwiched the food bin between two other bins it could push it out. Last night I couldn't see any way it could push the bin but still this morning the food bin was on its side on the pavement and the food was everywhere.

We could secure it with a bungee cord but having seen the way the binmen behave I doubt they would be willing to spend the time to wrestle it off and would probably chuck it away as well. They literally walk down the road, empty the food bins into a large bin and then hurl, and I mean hurl, the empty bin on to the pavement or road. I think that as a result of that treatment our bin closure mechanism isn't as robust as it might be.

Any ideas?

As I mentioned earlier the binmen use any excuse not to collect. They definitely wouldn't look in another bin to locate the food bin.

I’m in a London borough with millions of foxes and we don’t have this issue. The bins do lock and I put it out on top of the usual bin. The foxes have not got in. And we put meat etc in. I’ve just this morning bleached and scrubbed it as it was beyond rank. Maybe a new design is needed?

We bought one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Kerbside-Compost-Caddy-Locking-Lid/dp/B00X2HM9JI/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=28B0EBOE55NM1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.icg5l4kH7JYw7kC5lsG8ryDqUEcskChQaN55e5gD1AswIp0yZOdXM997FKqhIebTxHNPqphJ6M8B9gXvXw0-ZdjF9DvVH2XcFNqWATC_L1aUzcFYOKWH7dFD2cvQn6Fe-Q6b1-8S94EVLluXa0efA9uSBFJMZRBD1jSgaGzs9LCGp6qA8a4wzzGVAr2tE-aahOBBiIcehvLDSekadCpDyQ.Ci68OFT6yKDC90KUV5BjljN-j0jipePlMUTf0yDj-Ok&dib_tag=se&keywords=fox+proof+food+waste+bin&qid=1747045598&sprefix=fox%2Caps%2C181&sr=8-1 several years ago and it has done an excellent job of keeping waste in and foxes out. I resented having to pay for it myself, but less than I resent cleaning up mouldering food waste from the front path and pavement.

I'd try not putting food waste in it, but could you then put the chicken carcass etc out for the foxes anyway? Then they'll eat that and leave all the bins alone and won't starve

We are in fox-central and have never had this, but I see that a) you’re not allowed to get a different bin that might actually lock (though I’d double check that with the bin men) and b) you put meat in it (we’re pretty much veggie so rarely have any meat or fish in ours.

But honestly, @CarlaH. Aren’t you ashamed that you’re not making a year’s worth of stock from that chicken carcass? 🤣🤣 Call yourself an MNer, standards are really slipping round here.

What is this food waste you speak off??

Our council decided we were to be given a full sized wheelie bin for food/garden waste and a wee caddy for the kitchen with compost bags. We dont have food waste as such, just the odd bones from meat - everything else is composted . So it seemed daft putting out this huge bin once a fortnight for a handful of bones, so Id leave it and of course we got maggots. So now bones go in the general rubbish.

Very very very little food is wasted here, Any leftovers from the plates the dog gets. Fat goes for the birds ( pork rinds ) and any drained fat goes to making fat balls . Coffee grounds go on the garden, eggshells and any veg trimmings - compost

I'm adding veg scraps in my compost heap, so far no evidence of rats but I add lots of brown stuff too (old compost, shredded cardboard, etc) and I blitz the veg scraps before adding to compost heap so they're really small!

LOL. I am feeling suitably chastised. I would say in my defence that we probably only have a whole chicken once or twice a year and one of those is at Christmas. Please forgive me.

I did look at that but sadly the council will not countenance a bin that actually works.

I have just brought the bin in to wash as, following the spillage, I had to just sweep it all up with a dustpan and brush and so the food was no longer neatly contained in its bin liner.

It has been broken, presumably as a result of whatever the fox did or the rough handling by the bin men so is not of much use now anyway.

Fortunately for reasons I cannot begin to remember we do have another one in the loft so I will get that one down and start a regime of no meat/fish/eggshells and give the fruit and veg a good spray of orange surface cleaner as well.

Thanks again to all who commented.

I don't do the food waste thing, it's disgusting

My MIL used to feed fox's in her garden, then she got a tiny dog when her husband died and...unsurprisingly the poor dog got attacked by a fox!!

I hear you on this. I have just gone in my garden to find my food waste everywhere. My bin locks, and I put a paving slab on it. Foxes still get into it.

How so?

If you have crates for other recycling (tin/glass etc) you could try putting your locked food caddy, on its side, in a crate. I've been doing this for a while now and - so far - none of our very canny foxes has managed to get the caddy out of the crate and open it. Don't know if they'll work out a system eventually tho ...

We dont have food recycling in my area if we ever do i wont be doing it.
I saw it in my sisters area on bin day and the truck that collects went past i was almost sick.
just put it in the back bins.

Sadly we did have recycling boxes from the old days before we were given wheelie bins for all our recycling but didn't think we would ever use them so they were taken away.

If we still had them we might have been able to put the food bin inside and it might have made life difficult for the fox.

As I said upthread unless the bin men can actually see it they won't take it so we can't put it in anything with a lid.

i hand mine on my fence by the back hinge. My neighbours (who have a brick wall so no spikes) put theirs on top of their waste bins. We have tons of foxes but both these seem to work.

wonder if you got a larger compost bin for your garden, and just tipped your food waste in there, and then use the compost if you needed for your garden/flowers? You then wouldn’t need to bother putting out your bin for the binmen at all.

or maybe you could sell/give away the compost to others if they needed?

Can you hang the food caddy on something, by its handle? A hanging basket bracket, tree branch, fence post? That might keep it out of foxes' reach.

Sorry to hear this. We are also plagued by foxes getting into food waste bins. And can no longer leave our doors and windows open on sunny days or ANYTHING out in the back garden as they just love to come and play with our stuff and inside our house. The local population here has been boosted by absolute weirdos feeding them. Having to get down on your hands and knees of an early morning so you can clear away the mess is truly awful. The only thing that works for us is a) keep the food waste caddy inside the wheelie bin all week and then put it out early on bin collection day b) once it is out, leaving a brick on top - our bin men have always still collected the waste when we’ve done this and c) if we’re going to be away on holiday and thus can’t micro manage the bin like normal we just put all the food waste in general waste. I’ve heard other people have had success with citrus spray too. Solidarity! Hope you beat the little blighters.

We have foxes here wandering around every night. The brown food bins lock by closing the lid (it clicks into place if properly shut) and pulling the handle forward until it is hanging down the front of the bin. One night (about 2 am) I looked out of the window on hearing a noise, only to see a fox wrangling a neighbour's food bin. This neighbour usually puts it on top of the landfill bin. The tussle went on for quite a while, throwing it about the street and banging it on the ground but didn't succeed in opening it. Anyway, what about spraying some bleach around the bin so it blocks the smell of food and might deter the fox from trying to get into it?

Unfortunately there is nowhere to hang the bin and I think the shape and weight of the bin might make it quite difficult anyway. It is obviously a very determined animal or animals.

We really aren't gardeners and don't have anywhere to have a compost bin and in all honesty I just don't want to.

I think we will try just putting veg and fruit waste into the bin and the rest into the general waste bin. 95% of our waste is comprised of fruit and veg peelings, cores etc or bread which has gone mouldy.

That sounds the same design as ours. I have heard it trying to get into the bin and have shouted and scared it off but it just comes back once I am asleep.

It is possible that it has been slightly broken for ages and we haven't noticed but once I find our spare bin I won't be risking the more tempting types of waste going forward.

If it still attempts to get in then I will try the bleach/citrus based cleaner idea.

Cayenne pepper is your solution. Buy in bulk and sprinkle on the food before you put the bins outs. The foxes and rats hate the taste. You can also buy a hot chilli spray to spray on the bins and deter vermin.