If foxes are leaving your garden in chaos then don’t panic – animal experts recommend following this one easy step to prevent them from tearing up the place
Foxes don’t have a tricky reputation for nothing – these clever creatures have devised a whole host of ways to ravage your garden. Luckily, there are some safe ways to deter them.
There are an estimated 350,000 foxes living in the UK, according to the Wildlife Aid Foundation, and they’ve come to be widely regarded as a pest. Foxes are omnivorous and are known to eat anything from wild berries to rodents, frogs and earthworms. However, in urban areas they’re better known for relentlessly rummaging through bins and leaving a mess.
It can be incredibly frustrating to work hard cultivating your garden only to have it chewed up by foxes. They will scavenge for anything they think might be food, leaving chaos in their wake.
READ MORE: Where to buy plants featured in Monty Don’s Chelsea Flower Show garden
This includes fruits, plant bulbs and any vegetables you might have growing. In pursuit of their next meal, they’re also known to trample over low-lying shrubs and plants.
Worse still, they love digging. If you find dug-up tufts in your garden, it may well be a greedy fox toiling away to snatch insects and grubs.
They’re also attracted by the smell of common garden fertilisers. These often include ground up bone meal, dried blood and chicken manure pellets, which means they will also dig up plants and flowers.
That’s not all. They can also leave strong and unpleasant odours in your garden. Male foxes will use their excrement and urine as territory markers – which can include your garden.
Common methods to deter pests often fail when it comes to foxes, too. They are able to chew through plastic and are capable of pushing over freestanding structures, making it difficult to block them off.
However, it’s not impossible. When it comes to keeping foxes at bay, the RSPCA recommends using fences or an inflexible welded mesh to keep them out of garden beds.
They write: “Protect fruit or vegetable crops using fences or solid weld-mesh, with holes at least 4cm wide. Don’t use flexible netting as there’s a risk of wildlife getting tangled or caught in it.”
Other helpful tips for deterring foxes include clearing fallen fruit away from trees and putting bird feed in hanging bird feeders. This reduces the amount of available food for foxes.
You should also avoid leaving rubbish bins outside in plastic bags as these can attract foxes as well as other vermin. Equally, make sure you’re using securely sealed bins and compost bins.
