Seeing foxes running around your garden is normal in the UK but many don’t know if you deter foxes in the wrong way – you could be hit with a hefty fine
Gardeners across the UK are divided in their feelings towards foxes, with some welcoming the creatures into their gardens while others desperately seek ways to keep them at bay. While some green-fingered enthusiasts enjoy feeding these bushy-tailed visitors, leaving out meaty snacks for them, others are exasperated by the presence of these russet interlopers in their cherished gardens.
Reddit gardeners have been swapping advice on how to deter foxes from their outdoor spaces, amidst warnings from fox control websites have issued a potential £5,000 fine warning. Reddit user u/longjumpingtoe reached out online, saying: “Hi everyone, I really could do with your help on this one!”
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They shared their fox woes: “A fox has taken a liking to my garden and tends to poo everywhere. In addition to that it’s been digging behind my shed to get under it and I believe has created a den there. I’ve tried to scare it away, which works for about 30 seconds.”
“Any suggestions on how to stop it from coming to my garden permanently? (no shotguns allowed! ).” Another Reddit user suggested an unconventional method: “We had a chronic fox poo situ in the front garden. My wife peed in a cup and chucked it out there and it stopped. Apparently it’s only supposed to work for man-wee but we’re lesbians so we did what we could.”
u/dazzling-Example, offered a more polite solution: “What worked for me was putting clipped hawthorn branches in the places they were pooing, they must’ve got quite a shock when they tried, some of those thorns were like nails. Never saw any fox poo again.”
However, gardeners are being cautioned to exercise restraint when encountering foxes – as you could face a whopping £5,000 penalty per animal if you harm a fox.
The Fox-A-Gon website cautions: “Foxes are protected under a series of wildlife protection laws against poisoning, gassing, asphyxiating, maiming, stabbing, impaling, drowning, clubbing and most forms of snaring, with anyone convicted of carrying out such acts liable to 6 months imprisonment and/or a £5,000 fine per animal.
“Most fox ‘nuisance’ experienced by people in urban and suburban areas falls into three categories; digging, fouling and noise.”
These represent typical fox instincts and behaviour patterns. Depending on the season and whereabouts, excavating might be to create a breeding den, an escape route, a pathway between locations or merely to hunt for insect and invertebrate food.
“Foxes are not and never have been classified as ‘vermin’, so local authorities have no legal obligation to act against them. They are also well aware there is little point. Private “pest controllers’ who offer such a service often omit to inform you there is no such thing as a vacant territory.
“Remove one fox and another will take over the territory within weeks. Removal or destruction of foxes is, at best, an expensive confidence trick and at worst, an act of cruelty.”
Experts suggest that since foxes are adept at self-regulating their population, removing or killing a fox from an area won’t affect the overall numbers. This is because foxes naturally manage their species numbers to prevent overcrowding, so there’s little point in removing them as they’ll simply be replaced.
A more compassionate approach would be to use a deterrent. The website recommends scatter granules, such as those available for purchase from Asda, as an effective deterrent.
These work by eliminating scent marking smells which foxes use to delineate their territory, ensuring they won’t return while the granules are present in your garden.
