Foxes and badgers

[Wheelie]

I hope you guys aren’t too fed up with my questions, but you are so kind, I automatically think of you when I need help.

This time it’s foxes and badgers. I was chatting to one of my neighbours this morning. She has a plot in our allotment. She says they have terrible problems with them. Because my plot is higher than normal to accommodate my wheelchair, I’m not sure if badgers can climb or jump up there, but foxes will have no trouble. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a wildlife lover, but I just don’t want them ruining my work.
We are right next to woodland. I’m told there’s 11 badgers who visit at night as some woman buys them sausages!! 4 foxes too.

How can I keep them off my plot?

[burnie]

Fencing and it needs to be high I've seen Badgers running along the top of a 6 foot high wall, Foxes can be deterred with smells, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall had problems in an early episode of River Cottage, old tights with hair from the hair dressers was used to keep Foxes away from his chickens.

[4Shoes]

Foxes and Badgers will be able to hop up onto your bed, but if there is nothing to attract them, they will soon give it a miss.. They might scent mark a corner perhaps.

Don't use Blood, Fish and Bone. If you do, work it well in. The smell of the fertilizer will attract them and they will dig to try to locate the source.

[Wheelie]

Thanks for the tips Bernie and 4shoes. I’m surprised badgers can get up 6ft high! They are porkie looking things so I didn’t think they’d be able to!
I don’t think fencing is an option. I will certainly leave out using bfb. I will also go ask the hairdresser to collect some hair for me. I was thinking some kind of cloche or netting to put on overnight as they are nocturnal, but I don’t think anything exists for a plot raised up as high as mine.

[Snadger]

I have chickens but I would still love to see a fox or a badger on my plot. I would feel honoured!

[Nicos]

Don't grow sweetcorn...they absolutely adore it.

[Baldy]

Foxes are very cunning. Badgers are very strong.
They will be able to climb your beds if they are particularly interested. See how you get on, likely they will be more interested in the plots they've already been bothering. See how it goes. You'll probably find slugs to be the thing...

[SelkirkAlex]

I am in a wooded environment with badgers, foxes and the real pest, roe deer.

neither the foxes or badgers really bother me as I don't have chickens or masses of rodents to attract them, so I would suggest being careful with blood and bone , otherwise relax and enjoy your visitors, their presence more than compensates for the odd bit of nuisance

[purplekat]

I think we have both on our allotment. They're a pain as everything stinks of wee where they've been scent marking, they also like burying eggs in random places. I do no dig, and they love digging in the soft soil for worms and I've had a few sets of seedlings destroyed by them. I found a burrow at the back of my plot so I think that's why I have so much trouble with them.

The only advice I've been given is to get a man to wee around the plot to scent mark your territory, not tried it yet as my plot stinks enough from the foxes.

[4Shoes]

Just had a walk round and there must have been a Fox meet last knight. Fox tracks everywhere. Will have to ensure defences are proper form chicken runs when built.

[Wheelie]

After all your advice and stories, I might just wait and see how things go. If there’s a problem, then I will deal with it. Fingers crossed!

[bikermike]

there's a fox in ours. It has a bit of a dig at the woodchip and something occasionally poos on the plot (but that could equally be a cat). Apart from that, no problems at all.

Well, apart from the time it half-inched my son's mini-rugby ball and I had to chase it to get it back...

[chris_m]

My parents had to abandon a little water feature in their garden due to the foxes living a few doors down. They'd made a little water tumble falling onto a pile of rounded stones on top of the sump.
All of a sudden we noticed that the stones appeared to have been moving and occasionally at night we could hear them clacking against each other, but it was some time before we managed to spot that it was Mr Reynard and family doing it.

Thinking that maybe they were after the water we took to putting out a bowl of water, but they still kept at it - we did wonder if they'd invented a foxy version of marbles ;-)

Eventually their antics extended to digging up and eating the power cable for the pump - end of water feature.

[Bluenowhere]

Fox on ours too.

Apart from some cheeky shoe stealing from our neighbour, we haven’t had too much trouble (fingers crossed) seems to treat the allotments more as a cut through to far more interesting places. Peoples gardens and bins I suspect as there are houses over the back and that’s where she comes/goes from when I see her.

No badgers for us.

But don’t get me started on parakeets and corn

[bikermike]

oh yes, I'd forgotten the biting through the power cable.
not sure whether to be glad or annoyed it wasn't live at the time.

Overall, I reckon I've had more problem from squirrels (and more mess from cats) though