Garden invasion ...

[MacManiac]

For a couple of weeks now my dog has been going quite mad at night - desperate to get out to confront an intruder. If we don’t let her out, she barks and barks and barks. If we do let her out she charges round the garden, and then quietly comes back in. At about 3.00 a.m. all the fuss subsides and we can all get some sleep.

In the morning there is evidence of animal “poo”. I have come to the conclusion that we are being visited by a fox or foxes.

Is there any humane way I can discourage them from visiting? We have a dog and two cats so whatever we do must not be dangerous to them. I have seen all sorts of weird and wonderful devices to deter foxes but I wondered whether anyone had had the same problem, and what the solution was. Our garden is fenced with a wall at the back but a fox would easily get in and out. The house is in a very rural situation with the nearest neighbours 150 metres away.

[Kili01]

At least it isn’t killing your chickens which is what they are usually interested in doing!! We had problems with a local fox while living in the country in the UK. The fox managed to get into the hens run and caused carnage there before running off with the poor cock! We never saw him again or even found his feathers....

Foxes are very difficult to deter except with a gun or poison. We didn’t do anything to deter the fox, just made the surviving hens more secure. However, if you can get hold of an electric fence such as farmers use in the UK. an electric wire on top of your wall and along your fence will stop them.
An electric fence like this works off a car battery.
Dee

[DavidatLWH]

We lived in London many years ago and were plagued with urban foxes. A fox run appeared at the bottom of our garden. It was suggested that a rag soaked in diesel would deter them- and it did. Good luck.

[Dominic]

Another one you can try is Jeyes Fluid, if you can get it here. I have filled an empty plastic coke bottle with the stuff, and buried it so the top half stuck out. I perforated the top half, so the aroma could spread. Fox's hate the aroma. You won't find it pleasant either.

[TLR]

There is an old wives' tale that if the gentlemen of the house relieve themselves around the garden perimeter, that will deter foxes.
Not sure how true that is, but it certainly works wonders for a good lemon crop.

[cyprusmax47]

There is an old wives' tale that if the gentlemen of the house relieve themselves around the garden perimeter, that will deter foxes.
Not sure how true that is, but it certainly works wonders for a good lemon crop.

Does not matter if it is a gentlemen or the "lady of the house" urinate in the garden.... uric acid is what the lemon trees like, but I am unsure about the foxes.... Does not help in my garden, as foxes always walk along at nighttime.

Max

[TLR]

There is an old wives' tale that if the gentlemen of the house relieve themselves around the garden perimeter, that will deter foxes.
Not sure how true that is, but it certainly works wonders for a good lemon crop.

Does not matter if it is a gentlemen or the "lady of the house" urinate in the garden.... uric acid is what the lemon trees like, but I am unsure about the foxes.... Does not help in my garden, as foxes always walk along at nighttime.

Max

Lemon trees aren't gender picky, but the theory about foxes is that they detect male hormones in the urine and read that as a threat. As I said, probably an old wives' tale!
I've also heard that the dung of big cats works to deter foxes, handy if you have a friend with a pet lion (or live near a zoo).

[MacManiac]

Thanks for the responses to my query. We are getting very little sleep at the moment as Daisy can obviously tell when the garden is being invaded. Fortunately she does not roll in the fox poo, as our dog in the UK did years ago, which is a blessing. I suspect if I started urinating in the back garden, my wife would not be terribly impressed. I’ll keep an eye out for Jeyes Fluid, and see what happens. I think one of the problems is the back garden is really quite large and difficult to do anything over such an area. Various people online have suggested spraying something called Scoot, which may deter foxes. So I may investigate that. If I find the solution, I’ll report back here.

[MacManiac]

Strange to tell, but the last few nights have been fairly peaceful. Whether it will continue only time will tell. The only disturbance last night was the arrival of the “post lady” at 05.45. She is designated as a friend so Daisy just jumped off the bed and then returned a couple of minutes later.

[Kili01]

MacManiac,
If you need to get some Jeyes Fluid, the only place where I have seen it recently is in the EURO shop which is in Yereskipou.
Hope that helps as it really has a very powerful smell!

Dee

[MacManiac]

MacManiac,
If you need to get some Jeyes Fluid, the only place where I have seen it recently is in the EURO shop which is in Yereskipou.
Hope that helps as it really has a very powerful smell!

Dee

Many thanks, Dee.