Foxes under my decking.
Discussion
This fella has been using a hole to get under the decking. I waited until he was out and blocked it up and continued with working in the kitchen. I heard a noise thinking it was one of the kittens/cats and turned around to find the little fella standing behind me giving me this look that just said "Where do I go now".
Last night we were awoken by this god awful screaming.
I went out into the garden and there was a lot of frantic scrabbling under the decking. Realising that there must of been more than one young fox I unblocked the hole but in it's panic it managed to dig under the lawn and popped up in the flower bed and ran off.
I filled the hole in but this morning there is a new tunnel in the soil and I presume they are back under there again for a daytime kip.
Cute as they are, we only have a tiny garden here in SW London, and fox poop is disgusting and I'm worried about the cats, who are only 6 months old.
Any ideas on evicting the foxes? They are about the size of a fully grown cat.
I used the hose pipe to 'clean' the deck and the two foxes got a bit fed up and bugged out. I've bricked up the current easy way in and out but I have found one of them with a place behind the shed up against the neighbour's fence. I scared it off with a squirty bottle of water but the area is strewn with collected rubbish and poop.
Apparently 5 were born in the spring and are reeking a little havoc across all the gardens.
Apparently 5 were born in the spring and are reeking a little havoc across all the gardens.
As above getting rid of the decking is the only sure way. You could lift some of the decking, leave it up for a couple of weeks so their shelter is gone and they move on, then reinstate it but bury mesh in the ground around it so they can't dig back under it - like fox proofing an aviary.
croyde said:
My neighbour is all for this but apparently they are not considered pests. £5000 fine and 6 months in stir if you kill one.
Think Defra class them as Vermin, you can shoot them anywhere you have permission to shoot (ie your own land) However a small garden in the Burbs may not be the ideal place to start going at it with a 12 gauge.
If you'd have left well alone they'd not have been scared, run into the house to hide or dug up the flower bed 
Your cats are already existing with them, as the cubs grow they'll be fine (mine used to play with them
)
The poop is just as annoying as what your cats will do too blast it with the hose pipe to rid it
Your cats are already existing with them, as the cubs grow they'll be fine (mine used to play with them
)The poop is just as annoying as what your cats will do too
blast it with the hose pipe to rid it
Does seem that you're basically giving yourself a host of other problems by disturbing them so much. A few more days/weeks and they would all have dispersed anyway.
Instead you've now got terrified homeless fox cubs cowering in your childrens bedroom and distressed adults and cubs screaming because they're seperated etc.
Doubt they'd have any problems with your cats anyway. Tens of thousands of cats/foxes seem to co-exist quite happily in this country so I imagine yours would as well. Infact with such close proximity they'd probably have a better awareness of foxes than many cats.
Instead you've now got terrified homeless fox cubs cowering in your childrens bedroom and distressed adults and cubs screaming because they're seperated etc.
Doubt they'd have any problems with your cats anyway. Tens of thousands of cats/foxes seem to co-exist quite happily in this country so I imagine yours would as well. Infact with such close proximity they'd probably have a better awareness of foxes than many cats.
If they aren't doing any harm, leave them where they are. They are fascinating to watch. I have a few that roam through the garden here, (when the cats aren't about. The cats chase the buggers), and they are actually lovely creatures. I can sit out on my swing seat of hammock, and they will happily saunter past presumably because they are used to me.
Nature is awesome, try to embrace it, rather than chase it off.
Nature is awesome, try to embrace it, rather than chase it off.
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