Deterring foxes.. how to do it?

[Samuel1988]

Morning all,

I love animals and have nothing against foxes but they seem to love digging where I have put my weed suppressing mat down and ripping it up so I was wondering what can I do to deter the little red fury pests from doing this?

Many thanks,

Samuel

[bearded bloke]

Ohhh that's an interesting question,I wonder what it is they are digging for,might be worth opening out the whole a bit & see if there is anything buried there (previous kill maybe ?) that is attracting them.

[marchogaeth]

My cats go nuts trying to go through cardboard and, when I used it, weed suppressing fabric - which they tore to shreds in places. I have lifted the cardboard to see what's under there and in the winter I think there are mice/voles/shrews running around underneath it, I have found runs and tunnels when I've lifted it although never anything living in them. I don't really have it down in the summer but guess all sorts of lovely smelly things could be using it as cover to move around. On a sunny day or before rain it's often just sheer crazy play and young foxes especially do do that, too.

As to deterring them, I understand they don't like the smell of human pee so you could sprinkle that underneath or you could just use cardboard so you can shrug your shoulders because they probably are controlling other pests.

[Guest]

Hi,

Sorry to hear about the fox problem, unfortunately it is a bit of trial and error as well as investigation.
I lost my first lot of ducks years ago and from there I learnt so much about the pesky critters.
Firstly you will never get rid of foxes they are territorial and if it dies another one will normally replace it within 24-48 hours.(not that you are trying to kill it but I think it helps to know)

Is the fox likely to live close by? (some deterrents work less effectively if it is a well established area) If no - then strong smells such as creocote or urine (especially blokes!) is worth a try.
Is the matting encouraging worm activity? Foxes tend to eat bugs and small mammals it is only when they have young as a rule they go for larger animals (like your fav chickens). Prickly hedge cuttings like holly might help with scrabbing.
You can also buy sonic deterrents. I know the mole ones can work well but not sure about the fox ones but worth a try.

Don't know what else to suggest, but good luck let me know how it goes.