Wednesday, 28 September 2011

Anti-Fox defences

Now that Autumn is with us, the local Fox community is becoming more active again. I was bitterly disappointed to go out into the garden recently and see half of my lovely Radicchio plants ripped to shreds and strewn all over the place by foxes digging around for worms. This behaviour only takes place in the cooler months. During the Summer the foxes obviously find enough food elsewhere. This year I am determined to win the battle, so I have started early.

Today I used some of this:


What do you think it is? Dehydrated Wolf's pee or something? You dilute it with water and apply it to your garden with a watering-can. It makes a "scent" that the foxes dislike, apparently. As you can see from the price-tag, it's not cheap, so I hope it is effective. I'm not taking any chances though, so I have draped nets over a couple of the raised beds too.


The corners of the nets are supported by pieces from my trusty Build-a-Ball set (the green balls on top of the aluminium rods). In the foreground of the photo you can also see some of my potted herb plants. These will soon have to go under cover in the coldframe.
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10 comments:

  1. becky308628 September 2011 at 18:22

    I hope your fox repellant works better than the snake one that I bought this year did. Love the pots of herbs!

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  2. Egretta Wells blog28 September 2011 at 23:26

    Mark, I sure hope that works. It would be a shame for the foxes to destroy your pretty garden!

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  3. Sue Garrett29 September 2011 at 10:45

    Not something we have a problem with fortunately even though we have seen foxes close by - we do get them digging on the allotment but never causing too much of a problem. Very controversial I know but if you were to feed them would they leave your soil alone.

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  4. Jo29 September 2011 at 12:01

    I'll keep my fingers crossed that this works for you. It must be so downheartening to see your plants being destroyed when you've put so much effort in.

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  5. Malay-Kadazan girl29 September 2011 at 14:31

    Hope it works! Your brassicas look good.

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  6. Anita Kumar30 September 2011 at 05:01

    We don't get to see foxes in my place, ever. Didn't know that they could pose a big problem for home gardeners. Over here, foxes are found only in forests and zoos. Of course, we have our share of pests: squirrels, snakes and bandicoots.

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  7. Sixela4 April 2013 at 09:54

    Did this work for you? I like all animals but where we are it is becoming a little ridiculous the foxes rule.. leave a mess etc.. We cannot persuade one of our neighbors to stop feeding them... I have a PIR water sprinkler that is semi successful. I read that male urine is also effective... ??

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    1. Mark Willis4 April 2013 at 19:20

      I haven't tried the male urine approach, but I'm tempted... I still have a lot of problems with foxes. The only real solution would be to cull the creatures. These days they have no fear of Man - though I personally try to inculcate that, by shouting at them or throwing stones at them.

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  8. Sixela4 April 2013 at 09:55

    Did the fox repellant work?

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    Replies
    1. Mark Willis4 April 2013 at 19:16

      In a word: "No". Well, to be more accurate, it probably did work, but only for a couple of days. For it to be effective you would have to re-apply it frequently (especially after heavy rain), which would be very costly.

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