Reply to everyone. Foxes are obviously a hot topic, and thank you for all the comments. Its heartening to have so much feed-back from visitors to this web site.
During the recent snow, I was able to confirm something I had read about, but never seen before. Cats and dogs leave a double trail of footprints behind them, left and right. Foxes leave just a single trail of step marks, as if they are walking a tightrope.
Oh, and one final thing to the receivers of fox dung. This is an important wildlife resource and many dung beetles feed in it. There has been much concern that stock animals (cows, horses, sheep, goats, deer), given systemic pesticide medicines are producing incecticidal dung, killing off the beetles that would normally recycle their droppings. This has serious ecological consequences, increasing the numbers of flies breeding in the dung. Cats and dogs treated with anti-flea medicines may also have dung less readily removed by the eager beetles, which find themselves poisoned instead. Fox dung, unpolluted by toxic chemicals, is a valuable reservoir for this fascinating and important beetle fauna.
Reply to Paul S Having lots of frogs is no guarantee of spawn. Since males outnumber females, you might have all one sex, even though they are trying to clamber on top of each other. Frogs are relatively long lived and 10-year-olds are common, so if they fail to spawn this year, they will be back in 2010.
I have had two fox cubs as pets and they have grown into wonderful animals, they are highly intelligent and brilliant at keeping unwanted pests out of the garden, especially cats that dig up my borders and leave their faeces for my grandchildren and myself to get our hands covered in.and they kill my bird ! !. The foxes also contol any vermin such as rabbits,rats and squirrels we have.. So my neighbours and I are great fans of our beautiful pals
Can anyone help? I have repaired all the holes from the foxes digging and picked up their mess, put up with the screeching but how do I save my lawn that my grandkids play on? the foxes wee has burnt it all in patches please help x
Hi can anyone advise how I would work out what has dug a hole in my garden? I have been away for a long weekend out of East Dulwich in London and have arrived back today to find a big hole has been dug between my shed and a neighbours house. It has never happened before and I would like to just fill back the hole but now worry I might have a pest/pests invading my garden! Given it's only about 40 ft square its not huge so I want to make sure the pest is removed before it causes more damage.
How would I know if its a fox and should I just fill back the hole?
Reply to Jade Foxes are stubborn and difficult to deter, but you might be able to encourage them out of your garden. Fill in the hole and reinforce it with wire netting or cover it with bricks. Check it every day, many times a day if possible as if you are trying to make a nuisance of yourself to the potential squatters. Good luck.
Can anyone help.I'm trying to help my brother before he goes insane!He has had foxes in his garden for many years and has always enjoyed watching their antics.He has a flea infestation in the house and has tried every DIY pest control product there is,things seem to improve and then he is bitten again.What I would like to now is has anyone had this problem and how did you deal with it.I should say that we are sure they have come from the foxes,as he has been repairing hedging that the foxes have destroyed,to do this he has had to crawl under buses to reach, and he also sits on the grass.If anyone could offer any advice Iwould be very grateful thank you
I don't mind that a fox gets into our back garden but it deposits it a present so you can imagine when we are on holiday it is not a very nice picture to see the lawn in a mess. What can we do? I am sure that it is a fox as it is too big for a cat or smaller creatures that would venture into a garden.we need help. Thank you. Margaret
Reply to Harry I doubt the fleas have come from the foxes. Fleas infest animal nests, and those in homes are cat and dog fleas that breed in the sleeping baskets or corners of the carpet where the animals regularly sleep. If your brother has picked up fox fleas by lying in hedges, they cannot give rise to a viable population indoors.
I live in a town and attempt to keep chickens. I have lost many to foxes who would not be in the area if it were not for people who think it is cute to feed them. I would gladly dump my shredded chicken bodies on their lawns to make them understand what it is they are encouraging, as would my neighbours who have had pet rabbits and guinea pigs literally torn limb from limb.
Posts
During the recent snow, I was able to confirm something I had read about, but never seen before. Cats and dogs leave a double trail of footprints behind them, left and right. Foxes leave just a single trail of step marks, as if they are walking a tightrope.
Oh, and one final thing to the receivers of fox dung. This is an important wildlife resource and many dung beetles feed in it. There has been much concern that stock animals (cows, horses, sheep, goats, deer), given systemic pesticide medicines are producing incecticidal dung, killing off the beetles that would normally recycle their droppings. This has serious ecological consequences, increasing the numbers of flies breeding in the dung. Cats and dogs treated with anti-flea medicines may also have dung less readily removed by the eager beetles, which find themselves poisoned instead. Fox dung, unpolluted by toxic chemicals, is a valuable reservoir for this fascinating and important beetle fauna.
Having lots of frogs is no guarantee of spawn. Since males outnumber females, you might have all one sex, even though they are trying to clamber on top of each other. Frogs are relatively long lived and 10-year-olds are common, so if they fail to spawn this year, they will be back in 2010.
So my neighbours and I are great fans of our beautiful pals
How would I know if its a fox and should I just fill back the hole?
Foxes are stubborn and difficult to deter, but you might be able to encourage them out of your garden. Fill in the hole and reinforce it with wire netting or cover it with bricks. Check it every day, many times a day if possible as if you are trying to make a nuisance of yourself to the potential squatters. Good luck.
I doubt the fleas have come from the foxes. Fleas infest animal nests, and those in homes are cat and dog fleas that breed in the sleeping baskets or corners of the carpet where the animals regularly sleep. If your brother has picked up fox fleas by lying in hedges, they cannot give rise to a viable population indoors.