"LarsKurth" wrote in message
...

Foxes: I have had foxes camping in neighbouring gardens (by people not
looking out for theirs) for years. Causing the occasional problem, but
so far manageable.

However, every year they get worse in terms of behaviour. Digging holes,
digging out plants, etc. It also appears that every year there is a
different urban fox (probably litter from the previous year). Last
year's fox was extraordinarily brash: it decided it owned my garden and
would sun itself in my garden and would only run away when you threw
stuff at it. Apart from that it made little problems. No digging, etc.

This year we have a baby fox (no mother), which has made incredible
trouble already. I can't leave windows and doors open. It tries to get
into the house - even during the day - when I am there. Two days ago my
mother was visiting from Germany: she left the bedroom window open at
night and nearly got a heart attack when she was woken by the fox in the
middle of the night. It took us a while to chase it out of the house.

It is digging holes everywhere and digging out plants. This morning I
discovered pieces of mummified baby fox (a head and a some more bone)
laid out in a location where the fox dug a trench between my and the
neighbouring property the night before. I blocked it off by submerging a
stone and chickenwire yesterday morning.

I am just intruigued by the behaviour and am wondering whether anybody
else has seen similar. And whether you have any tips? It's almost as if
the fox is trying to mock me (-: But the incident with the mummified
head is odd - maybe his dead sibling, which he kept? And I am worried
that as the fox gets bigger, I will have real problems. Any advice? All
the usual remedies such as anti fox water cannons, sprays, etc. I have
tried in the past and dont work.

I'm afraid there is only one solution to a fox repeatedly coming into your
house. A piece of lead in the ear. Sad, but you have to do it or find a
vermin man who will.
They often do not advertise that they will in the yellow pages, for fear of
the Bill Oddie brigade, but check them out, some will.
I totally blame the wildlife programmes for making people think that feeding
foxes is a good idea. Of course it is not, it has made them too brave.
Once upon a time foxes only came out at night because quite rightly they
were afraid of humans. Now they are so confident that I lost 20+ chickens
during the day once, the vixen was still killing them when I checked them at
5 pm in full daylight in the summer.
I am unable to let my chickens out now to free range.
They are in huts & runs like Fort Knox now, simply because foxes are not
afraid of us now.
Tina