Foxes can be pests in gardens, as they can trample over flowerbeds, dig up your lawn, and leave droppings everywhere – but one natural item could keep them away
A natural item you already have in your kitchen could keep foxes out of your garden.
Urban foxes can be a nuisance in gardens, especially in the spring when you’re trying to encourage plants to grow and grass to flourish after the miserable winter months. Foxes can dig up plants and flowerbeds while searching for insects to eat or to bury surplus food, and they also mark their territory by leaving droppings and unpleasant scents all over your garden.
They also make noisy “screams” at night that can keep you awake, and if you have small outdoor pets like rabbits, they could even kill and eat them. While none of us want foxes in our gardens, we also don’t want to hurt them – and thankfully, there are natural solutions you can use to deter them without causing any harm.
According to the experts at Shield Pest Control, there’s an everyday kitchen staple that foxes can’t stand, and anyone who has a fully stocked spice rack will already have some on hand – chilli pepper. And if you don’t have any because you’re not a fan of spice, there’s another common ingredient you can use instead – garlic.
The experts said: “Sprinkling these foods around your garden will naturally prevent foxes from coming near your home and garden. There’s no need to resort to extreme measures if you don’t have to.”
For the most effective fox deterrent, the experts recommend using both chilli and garlic together. You should boil the two ingredients in some water and then mix them in a blender to create a watery spray. This can then be sprayed around your garden to leave a “potent smell” that foxes can’t stand.
You can pick up “hot and fiery” Bird Eye chillies from Asda for just 45p, while a single bulb of garlic from the same supermarket will set you back 39p – making the hack cost a total of 84p.
And if you don’t want your garden to smell of chilli and garlic, then there is a sweeter-smelling mixture you can make that will also deter foxes. According to Combat Pest Control, foxes also don’t like the smell of citrus fruits, so you can “effectively repel” them by placing lemon peels around your garden.
Meanwhile, Gardener’s World said that because foxes have a “strong sense of smell”, it can be a good idea to take measures to stop them wanting to come into your garden in the first place. This includes putting locks on outdoor bins that they would want to scavenge through and clearing out any droppings to stop foxes from coming back.
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