There are some general things you can do in order to stop foxes coming into your garden. These tips target some of the loves & hates we mentioned foxes have and can help deter foxes and prevent them coming back:
- Make sure you keep your garden as clean as you possibly can, remove any rubbish that might be blowing around, and just generally keep it tidy – Foxes won’t come back if they have no reason too
- If you have a fox issue, unfortunately they will leave faeces. Make sure you pick these up regularly, which we know isn’t the most desirable job – you have to thoroughly hose down the area as well. This is part of them leaving their scent, so use any smell repellents or the DIY smell repellent we told you about earlier in the place of the faeces
- Move things around – foxes like familiarity, so make sure you move your gnomes, hose, whatever it is, just try and disturb the area
- Cut the grass, trim the hedges & keep everything in check. They like shaded areas, the less of them the better
- If you have noticed an area they regularly bed down and find comfortable, place a large object that they can’t move on it
- Invest in some of the products that we are going to mention later!
- Now you may not want to do this it’s completely up to you, it sounds bad but stay with us. Pour male urine in the areas the fox regularly spends time – it’s a deterrent believe it or not!
If you’ve followed all the tips we’ve given so far and you’re still struggling to get rid of them then there are a few products that you can invest in, which we’ll go through next!
Why do foxes foul in your garden?
To successfully stop foxes from fouling, it’s helpful to understand a bit about why they poo and spray urine as they do.
Although it sometimes feels like the fox is pooing just to spite you, this is definitely not the case.
In fact, a fox’s faeces and urine plays a very important role in its communication with other foxes and is vital for its day-to-day survival.
Protecting its territory
It’s very likely that your garden forms part of a fox’s territory and, in an urban area where space is tight, the fox will constantly need to reassert itself and protect its territory from neighbouring foxes.
The way that foxes do this is by using their poo and urine to ‘scent-mark’ prominent parts of their territory.
Scent marking
Scent marking serves two important purposes.
- It lets other foxes know your garden is occupied and unavailable. The more prominent the scent-mark, the more likely other foxes will smell the message. That’s the reason foxes often poo on top or in the middle of things, like the centre of the lawn, on paving slabs or garden furniture, as well as around the perimeter.
- The presence of its own scent lingering in your garden reassures the fox that another intruder is not trying to take over. The fox equivalent of a (very dirty) comfort blanket. If your garden smells of itself then it’s happy.
Knowing the relevance of fox poo to the everyday life of a fox can be of great help when it comes to stopping it from committing its crimes in your garden.
Disrupt foxes with deterrents
At the moment, the fox coming into your garden probably feels very comfortable and happy with its surroundings.
It likely has a little routine, doing the rounds of your garden and keeping it under control by pooing and spraying urine in all the most important places.
• 10 reasons foxes find your garden attractive (and what to do about it)
As it stands, the fox is not facing a challenge and will continue to come into your garden to poo, dig and cause damage unless you give it a reason to think otherwise.
Instead, the fox needs to have this pattern of behaviour broken and its behaviour forced to change so that it views your garden as too risky to enter.
Two of the most effective deterrents at doing this are discussed below.
Karlsten Fox Repellent
Now that you understand the importance of the fox’s own scent, what if you could find a way of introducing a new smell to make the fox think that your garden is no longer safe?
The good news is you can do exactly that by using a deterrent called karlsten Fox Repellent.
How does karlsten fox repellents work?
karlsten is specially-formulated granules that you spread and add a little water and sprinkle around your garden, concentrating on the place the fox gets in and where you’ve seen it pooing and spraying.
It works by introducing a new scent to your garden that disguises the fox’s own smell and tricks it into thinking that another predator is trying to take over the territory.
karlsten is a particularly effective product to use in the beginning to disrupt the fox and make it feel unsafe and insecure in your garden.
It’s also very easy to apply and it’s completely harmless to your pets, your plants and even the fox itself.
Spray it regularly
However, in order for karlsten spray to work, it’s very important to be persistent when spraying it around your garden.
Don’t just spray it once and expect the fox to disappear.
Foxes need to be confronted with a deterrent on a regular and consistent basis in order to break their normal habits and force them to change their behaviour.
If you don’t respray the karlsten fox spray after the first application, then the new smell will soon fade away, especially if there is heavy rain. The fox will simply consider it a minor inconvenience and normal service will quickly resume.
On the other hand, if you spray it regularly, the fox will repeatedly get the impression that its territory has been taken over for good and it is no longer safe to be in your garden.
