HELP! foxes are driving my springers more mental than the breed standard!

[gowkthrapple]

I live on the outskirts of a large green area and for years the foxes (and cats, feral and domestic) have been steadily increasing. I have been able to fence in two sides of the back garden and the garage n gate n conservatory block a third but the last side is an established privet hedge.

In the last year, the foxes have moved in with a vengeance - seems taking down our old shed lost them their hidey hole - and apart from driving my English S.S.s mad with their poo and scenting, they are ripping holes in the hedge, allowing the mutts egress, chewing shrubs and any objects left out either disappear or end up chewed to b*gg*ry - I use a couple of old Doc Martins as door stops and they've attacked both (I think it is the cubs cutting their teeth) dug holes in the shrub bed, killed one shrub and damaged trellis (though think that's the cats more than foxes)

The night before last, the mutts went wild indoors (thankfully the door in the conservatory was locked) and when I looked, a fox was sitting, looking in from the bottom of the steps!!! it only moved off when I moved to the door.

B.T.W. Im Glasgow! not London!

Big question is - does anyone have a good solid way to make the b*gg*rs avoid the garden? (short of poison - not nice or legal!) someone has mentioned coffee grounds?

[blackburn_stevie]

One chap that I know swears by, not AT, fishing line. He reckons that if you take a long length of the thinnest line you can get hold of and loop it round the stems or branches to form a sort of maze type effect. Just like the laser effect jobbies you saw in Mission Impossible. The foxes get put off the idea of getting through the lower passageways and go elsewhere.

Mind you, the bloke who told us about it is a bit of a nutter at the best of times.

[start-the-fire]

Not much help but-from the rspca

http://content.www.rspca.org.uk/cmsprd/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobnocache=false&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1233009779671&ssbinary=true

[cee-dee]

As the Privet hedge is their way in, the proper thing to do is to cut the privet back to the main stems on your side (you can do it on the other side if you have access or own it) and then use pig/sheep netting to keep them out.

Privet is like a weed, no matter how hard you cut it back, it will grow back again so you won't do it any harm so long as you cut it back "all the way up" so that the lower stems get some light.

If the hedge is very tall, I'd cut the top way down while you're at it to allow more light to the lower parts.

A tall privet hedge can get very "leggy", all top with gaps at the bottom so tell us what yours is like or post a pic?

[geographically*challenged]

I was gonna suggest putting barbed wire up around your privet hedge but the hedge may grow into it which wuldnt b good but if you could put up some stakes you could take the barbed wire to it.

See the foxes get through that.

Oh! If you do use brbed wire you could put it in short curves to detract the wonderful creatures.

I LOVE foxes but I do know the damage they do 😞

[bankhaunter]

Try peeing along the bottom of the hedge.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1035781/Outfoxed-How-husband-agreed-al-fresco-save-hens-foxes.html

[aernethril]

The foxes may well dig under any wiring though.

Have you considered lion's droppings?

I don't know about foxes, but it does deter feral cats apparently.  You'd have to ask a local zoo if they could oblige with a goodly bucketful.

You'd still need to add something to stop your dogs getting too interested in it.

[gowkthrapple]

thanks for the suggestions folks but:

nearest zoo is on the other side of the country,

neighbours wouldn't be happy about chopping the hedge back - weren't interested in putting towards putting up a fence....

hedge is only 5' by approx. 2-3' but the next garden is much lower so where theirs is sparse, ours (was) pretty thick - v. established - been in place since the 60's

tried chicken wire, wooden trellis, no use - only thing that seems to stop the blooming things is blocking the hole with an object (so far a strawberry planter, two freestanding windbreakers, a footplate off a sun lounger, a recycling bottle bin box thingie and a big bit of wood and a bag of compost!)

several neighbours are definitely feeding them and they obviously have escape routes through the gardens but we residents are now all having problems if we own dogs!

[gowkthrapple]

Don’t try to make them tame or put out too much as foxes may not move far if all the food they need is available in one garden – they may bury some, defecate or cause other problems in neighbouring gardens leading to ill-feeling against the foxes. 

How can I stop foxes howling at night?

Foxes call throughout the year, but normally only howl or scream during the mating season, which peaks in January. During the mating season, it may be worth considering the use of ear plugs if the howling disturbs you.

Scent is an important element of communication in foxes and sometimes a dog fox will follow a female dog in heat but it is not common for this to happen. Because dogs may pose a real threat to foxes, a fox will normally seek to avoid dogs.

Use securely sealed dustbins and composters. Keep pet rabbits etc in secure enclosures, and put a roof on any pet or chicken-run. Enclosures should also have a weld-mesh front secured with a good lock that cannot be worked loose. Also clear up any spilt pet food on the ground.

Remove places of shelter

Cut or clear any areas of long grass or dense vegetation – dense cover can provide a safe, sheltered location for a fox to lie up undisturbed during the day. Keep garage, greenhouse and shed doors closed.

　

Prevent access to areas under sheds – these can provide ideal shelter or a location for digging an earth to raise cubs.

Deter foxes from the garden

Put up fencing or plant prickly plants around the garden.

　

Use a proprietary animal repellent approved for use with foxes.

done it all or don't have the problem but they are really becoming a real nuisance!

[cee-dee]

Usually, a hedge is jointly owned but often, if one side wants to put up a fence instead of the hedge, arguments reign about where the actual boundary lies and "the other side" often won't want to make any contribution and you can't make them.

As to cutting it back, if it's your side that need cutting back, what has the "other side" got to do with it? You're "allowed" to cut a hedge on "your side".

If the neighbour claims the hedge "is his", you're still allowed to cut your side.

As it's you with the problem, it's up to you to keep out marauding animals whether they be Cows, Sheep or Foxes.

If the hedge was cut back properly and netting put up, if the hedge "grows in to it" it'll hide the netting after a while. The netting needs to be along the whole length of the hedge, not just where the present holes are.

Some old hedges have tennis court netting in the middle which was put up before the hedge grew/was planted. Nothing but nothing gets through tennis court netting until it rusts away.

[geographically*challenged]

Actually if you own the fence/hedge you have every right (so long as you let the other person know) you have every right to go onto your neighbours land and cut the hedge (or deal with it)  upto 3ft inside other persons property.

If they should cut any branches off they must place the branches onto your side of the headge (unless they want the wood for their log burning stove and you have given them permission to have the branches).

[al**bear]

In Scotland you are allowed to cut the hedge UP TO YOUR BOUNDARY LINE, without permission

[cee-dee]

At one time, solicitors made more money out of boundary disputes than anything else. (Not strictly true but it sounds good?)

Deeds often simply say "Boundaries as existing."

Well, where fields are concerned, the odd foot or two doesn't matter much but around houses, 6 inches can cause an argument. Very few deeds show boundaries defined by triangulation from fixed spots, eg, the corners of the house.

"Maps" of properties are usually "for identification purposes only" and are rarely to scale so they can't be relied upon without a defined and measured triangulation.

With that in mind, where IS the boundary? When the houses were built, was a hedge already there? Was the hedge planted when the houses were built? If that's so, the boundary is on the centre line of the hedge where the main stems emerge from the ground.

Before I moved here, the previous owner (a mad woman!!!) and "next door" were at loggerheads because while she was away on holiday, "next door" cut the hedge down and replaced it with a fence. She claimed the fence was in the wrong place, they ended up in Court. She lost. From looking at the old aerial map of the area and sighting the centre from between the two houses, I'd say that actually, the fence was on "their" side of the boundary and this house has "gained" a few inches 🙂

The simplest, easiest and most logical way to stop the foxes getting in is to do what I said above ie, cut the hedge right back on "your side" and put up a netting fence alongside the hedge and if you feel that the Foxes might dig under, take the netting two feet down in to the ground!

[tommy.irene]

Let the dogs out in the garden on a long lead..

[mitzigirl_123]

Gowkthrapple  - There is some excellent advice given on here and the only thing I would add is rather than netting, for extra strength why not consider using double strain chicken wire which you can run along the hedge and when you stake it down, curve it at the bottom and allow another couple of feet to run horizontally along the ground that way, if they dig, they'll have to dig down and then along and up. 

And if you have the space then run a secondary line of fencing, say a foot tall by a foot wide alongside the horizontal wiring which will create a “no man’s land”.

You can always plant seeds in this newly created mini “trench” which will eventually cover the wire.

Do come back on here and let us know how you get on. 😄