If a fox is drawn into the garden, the solution is to drive it away with an effective fox deterrent. Various methods are available to keep foxes at bay.
Table of Contents
dangers of foxes
Foxes are usually not dangerous to humans if they are healthy animals. They keep their distance from them and only approach their habitat when they are foraging. If chickens, rabbits and/or birds are kept in the garden, a fox will do everything to get at them. Not to be forgotten is their hunting instinct, which has also cost the lives of dogs and cats in the past. However, if they are sick or very shy animals, they can be aggressive and aggressive towards people. A fox bite carries a high risk of rabies transmission. For the reasons mentioned, it is understandable that not every garden owner is happy about their presence and would like to drive the fox away.
Specialist trade products
Garden owners expect professional fox defense with equipment and resources specially developed for this purpose. Simple home remedy alternatives and simple tricks can also be effective.
Ultrasonic
Foxes have fine hearing. Affected garden owners can take advantage of this by setting up an ultrasonic device with high frequencies of up to 65 kilohertz. For foxes, these sound unpleasantly shrill, causing them to flee. People do not perceive the noises because their maximum audible frequency range is 20 kilohertz.
Electrosaun
When faced with an obstacle to gain access to a yard, foxes will usually determine whether a fence or wall poses a threat by gently prodding it. If they come across an electric fence that gives them a harmless but unpleasant electric shock for a fraction of a second, they flee.
When purchasing and installing an electric fence, consider the following:
- optimum voltage: between 5,000 and 7,000 volts
- under 5,000 volts minimum voltage with low fox repellent function
- optimal number of fence wires: three
- optimum fence tension: one at the height of the fox’s head, one in the middle, one at the top
- Minimum distance to the ground: 15 cm (to prevent fatal injuries)
- Don’t forget grounding
- Possible alternative: electrical network
Stroboscopic flash unit with motion detector
Foxes are mainly nocturnal. If a bright light suddenly lights up in the dark, they get frightened and run away. This task is performed by a so-called stroboscopic flash unit. It is activated via an integrated motion detector and emits a bright flash of light at short intervals.
Water sprinkler with motion detector
Similar to the stroboscopic flash, the automatic water sprinkler reacts with a motion sensor. If the latter perceives the movement of a fox, it immediately spurts out of the explosive device in its direction and puts it to flight.
alternatives
Normal light motion detector
Instead of a stroboscopic flash unit with a motion detector, a floodlight can also be used, which can also be purchased in combination with a motion detector. Here it is important to ensure that the floodlight motion detector also reacts to animals and not only starts when human body parts are detected.
garden hose
Especially in urban areas, the foxes also go in search of food during the day and roam through the gardens. Anyone who sees one drives them away with a shower from the garden hose. This requires a quick reaction and accuracy. Patience and consistency are also required, because the fox is not so easy to drive away and tries again several times until it finally gives up and avoids the garden for the long term.
fragrances
There is a special deterrent called “Hukinol” in specialist shops that imitates the smell of human sweat. This suggests a kind of territory marking for the foxes, which is why they keep their distance. If the scent of sweat is distributed intelligently, the fox can be driven out of gardens in the long term. However, the associated odor nuisance should be noted. For this reason, this method of repelling is only recommended in places that are far enough away from neighbors and one’s living area.
This is how the application works best:
- When keeping animals in outdoor cages, place litter, sawdust and/or sand around the outside and spray vigorously
- Leave fox droppings and spray (dissolves the fox’s own territory markings)
- Saturate rags with fragrance and hang over fences/walls/plants
- Spray again every few days depending on durability
Sweaty clothing
If you sweat a lot during sports or at work, you can use your clothes instead of the commercially available fragrance. Sweat from clothing is most effective when the T-shirt & Co. are damp. This makes it less suitable for use on hot summer days, but better for damp spring and autumn days.
Hundeurin
Some garden owners swear by dog urine to ward off foxes. If you don’t have a dog, you can also order predator urine online. As with human sweat, the effect relates to the marking of foreign territory, which encourages a fox to avoid the area. It should be noted that foxes react differently to the scents. If a fragrance does not work immediately, try another fragrance.
spoil your appetite
A fox defense is easily achieved by spoiling the appetite. This works by placing treats prepared for the fox. In this case, prepared means that they contain inedible and/or unpleasant additives. Hot spices or sauces and bitter agents are best suited for this. These are to be distributed at various points on the food. If he bites into it several times, he will quickly understand that there is nothing tasty waiting for him and move on. Above all, ideal foods that can easily act as appetite spoilers are:
- rabbit and chicken meat
- berry fruits
- windfall
- food waste
construction eviction
If a fox has built a burrow in the garden, it should not be closed carelessly, as trapped animals die in agony. The first thing to do is make sure there are no cubs in the burrow. Under no circumstances should the burrow be sealed before the young are about nine weeks old. Between late spring and early summer, the young usually start hunting, so this is the earliest time to start capping. The ideal approach looks like this:
- start with scents near the construction
- Renew fragrance daily and put closer to burrow (forces foxes to flee burrow)
- don’t block the entrance with it so foxes can escape
- if the building is empty, cover the entrance completely with fragrance (straw, hay or rags are ideal as fragrance carriers)
- Check the entrance daily to see whether the entrance is uncovered again
- if the entrance remains overcast after two to three days, the fox/foxes are gone
- finally fill up the building and close it tightly (ideally: place a stone slab or something similar on top)
A few preventive measures should be taken to ensure that a fox does not seek its way into the garden again and has to be driven away:prevention
- no feeding
- no open water points at night
- Immediate removal of dead animals (birds, mice, etc.)
- do not use fertilizers of animal origin
- Remove fallen fruit quickly
- Harvest as early as possible if you grow it yourself
- Cover compost well
- do not put leftover food on compost
