Should I keep the foxes?

[Howandwhy]

Two foxes visit my garden every day and night and have been coming daily since they were cubs. They ruin my kids garden toys and bite my pumpkins. I know the entry point is under the fence (although I've seen one jump over the fence), so I had planned to block it and add to the height of the fence as well as making it fox proof. A friend advised me that if I get rid of the foxes there will be nothing to keep rats and mice at bay. There was a rat infestation in the garden around 10 years ago but I haven't seen any sign of them since then. Do you think the foxes are keeping the rats/mice away? I'd rather put up with the foxes if that's the case! Thanks for your advice/experience in advance!

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow , cats do kill rats when not starving. My DCat eats like a tiger and still brings home rat 'takeaways'. She doesn't eat them.

If you like nature and consider yourself environmentally friendly and want to be kind to animals then leave them alone and find a way of co-existing. It's their country/habitat too.

Keep them, of course!

(Sorry, know it’s upsetting when your produce is damaged, but “they bite my pumpkins” did make me laugh.)

Bloody hell, you don't hold back do you?

We have a 'rat run' for foxes through the bottom of our garden, and previously they have lived under an old shed (now demolished) and had their babes.
I don't mind wildlife, but the downsides are that they poo everywhere, especially by the backdoor (which is an especial wind up for our dog), they run through the garden and make the dog go ballistic at all hours of the night, and the worst by country mile is the fleas. We have to pay for the £50 every 3 months treatment from the vets now as the fleas were epidemic, even though we have no carpets in the house, the dog was alive with them.

And one more thing, they ate their siblings and left bits of carcass strewn around the neighbours gardens, as witnessed on the neighbours CCTV. Grim.

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow
Our cats catch rats and mice in our garden every week. We've had some bigger than DH shoes (size 12). Every time I let the cats in I have to check that they haven't got a mouse in their mouth.
We also have foxes who catch rats and throw them around like cats do.

The foxes in our garden (north London) are a real pest. They spread shit and rubbish everywhere. Huge volumes of litter, chicken bones, dead pigeons. Spread shit all over the lawn, on our patio, on garden furniture. It's revolting. They Destroy plants, furniture and other belongings and have no fear whatsoever of humans.

They make a tremendous noise during mating season. It's not unusual for us to see a fox (or 6) in or garden at any time of day or night and and night we sometimes see huge gangs of around 20+ in the road outside the front of our house.

To those of you upthread who said you feed foxes, please please don't. It changes their behaviour and is really antisocial. Just because an animal has a cute face and a bit of fit really doesn't mean it's not a pest.

Foxes anyday!

Cats can take out rats but need to be shown by their mother how to use their back claws, farm cats or those with feral mums can be very efficient.

What @thinkfast said.

Living with foxes | RSPCA

Please tell me how you fox proofed your garden?