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How do I get rid of foxes?
Getting rid of foxes in gardens and areas around industrial buildings can be very challenging. Unfortunately foxes are quite normal visitors to our gardens and streets, even in built up urban areas in the UK, and they are very opportunistic omnivores. This allows them to thrive in a wide range of habitats. Rabbits and mice are common meals for them but, if needed, a fox’s diet can include everything from worms and beetles to birds and fruit.
Urban foxes hunt live prey including any chickens you may have, but will also take advantage of any food discarded by people. Luckily they normally only come out at night and we usually only see the mess they leave behind from one of their visits, for example:- litter, bins knocked over, dug up areas, as they search for food. This includes getting into your kitchen compost or general waste bins which can be fixed by “locking” the lids down for example with bungee cords.
Foxes are not classed as protected in the UK so we don’t need to take extra care when discouraging them and getting them to move on. However, whilst it is not illegal to hunt or kill a fox, in the UK, it is against the law to cause unnecessary suffering under the Animal Welfare Act 2006. There’s a fine of up to £20,000 for offenders.
Normally the best way to remove a fox from your garden is to remove the food source. This includes stopping them feeding other animals in the garden like birds. However that’s very difficult when a fox will eat almost anything - fruit, vegetables, worms, grubs, leftovers, mice etc.
Most damage is normally caused when the weather turns and it's cold or frosty. This makes their natural food harder to find, and this is when they rummage in the bins, causing a lot of mess, in a more desperate search for food.
Keeping foxes out of the area is extremely difficult as they can jump fences and walls. If you have chickens or other pets in the garden make sure they are protected and locked up at night and also remove any leftover food. Removing all possible food sources is normally the first line of defence but this is very difficult as the fox will eat most things.
If you find that foxes are coming into your garden at night, you can contact a pest control specialist to deal with the situation. But if you consider it inhumane or unethical to hurt a fox then there are other ways to make your garden an undesirable place by using smells, sounds, fear and natural predators.
PestGo2 ultrasonic fox repellers can help deter foxes in two distinct ways.
The main deterrent is targeted ultrasonic soundwaves. This just simply annoys the senses of the fox so much that it moves the fox on to an area where they don’t get annoyed by the sound. One of the neat features of our devices is that they also change the ultrasonic frequencies while keeping them within a band of frequencies that the pest hates so the fox doesn’t get used to the same sound.
Additionally, there are a couple of red “Eyes” LEDs that flash at various times. This has the effect that the fox thinks there could be another predator within the area so it quickly moves on to avoid a confrontation.
PestGo2 ultrasonic devices are designed and built in the UK and can be powered via a mains adapter or even run from a 12v (car type) battery if you’re in a remote location, away from mains power. Both options are available at the time of purchase.
Best regards
Sean Gunston