Help! Fox in my garden!

[blodwen]

I have seen it now on numerous occasions over the last few days. Today I had all my mindees back after 6 weeks summer holiday. I am worried in case the fox would approach any of them while they are playing outside. It was just sitting on the lawn this afternoon for ages. When I go out, it runs away, but with them being so little! Are they in any danger? Anyone any experience of this?

afaik foxes don't attack people. but if you're worried put up a better fence

we had foxes and they always ran away when they saw us so i seriously doubt you have reason to worry. we only saw ours during the day when she seemed desperate for food. she had cubs and was terribly thin, so we started putting out cat food for her. probably of no help to tell you that but you might fancy doing it (do it at night of course)

i live in the rurals and have never heard of a fox attacking a person.

Most foxes don't like a lot of noise and will disappear pretty fast if they are disturbed. I would have thought that the fox would probably be more wary of your mindees than they will be of it. You'll just need to check that it hasn't pooed all over your garden. I had a fox look in at my sitting room door last night - I expected one of the neighbourhood cats, so I got a bit of a surpise!

Errr, I would not be so sure about foxes not attacking children. We had a recent case in our local paper of a toddler being bitten by a fox.

OMG! That has scared me! We do have a 5ft fence all around the garden. It seems to be getting underneath, round behind the shed (where the children can't get to). Even if I were to block up the gap (which I can't get to either), it would just jump down from the wall at the end. Is there any way of deterring them?

Blodwen, try; www.foxproject.org.uk or ring the Urban Fox Deterrence on 0906 272 4411 or email; [email protected] for advice - hopefully they will allay any fears that you may have. You will need to be careful that the children do not come into contact with any fox urine or faeces that may be in your garden - so perhaps get the children to wash their hands moreso after being in garden. Many foxes suffer with Mange unless being treated by us kind humans so if you know of a particular place that the fox lays, you may not want the children to sit on that particular patch of grass for example but ask the fox project if mange can be passed on in this way. Hope this helps - I personally am fascinated by the survival of foxes, I have watched a family of them for 8 years, cubs included and they will usually run away or my cats chase them! Sometimes if a fox shows itself around humans in daylight it may mean the fox is injured in some way, unwell or just absolutely starving. It is not usual for foxes to attack humans or cats; chickens and rabbits yes!!

Foxes can climb any fence. The chance of them biting anyone unless cornered is just about zero, I really think that is overstated-don't you think there would have been a mass extermination if they bit people, especially children, regularly? They are more of a nuisance than a danger. They will chew up shoes, toys and garden hoses left out and regularly bring other people's socks to chew up in my garden. Mine dig holes as well as poo everywhere. I would be interested to watch them but have never seen one, they only come out after dark. I bought an electronic fox scarer (does cats too) but I think it annoys me more than them!

Thanks for all the replies, especially Tan 1959! I will try their website/phone line to put my mind at rest!