These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles. Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles. Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling from Swansea Bay. Dave's at that end; I'm at this end.
Bill G's in the middle. Come to think of it, where is Bill G these days?

"Jake" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market
due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but
I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles.
Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

My cat sneers at pop bottles.
Electric fences are good against foxes as long as you keep them charged -
the minute the battery fails you are in trouble, as they seem to know it.

I've had a difficult relationship with foxes attacking my chickens for some
years. My preferred method if they do it, is to put a piece of lead in
their ear.
Works quite well.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Jake" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging
a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market
due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but
I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips
from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop
bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off
as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles.
Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

My cat sneers at pop bottles.
Electric fences are good against foxes as long as you keep them charged -
the minute the battery fails you are in trouble, as they seem to know it.

I've had a difficult relationship with foxes attacking my chickens for
some years. My preferred method if they do it, is to put a piece of lead
in their ear.
Works quite well.

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion crows or
other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any doubt whatsoever
I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and made sure that all
holes were filled and that everything was in order. Then I sat in the
darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15 pm four foxes, in one
instance all at the same time, visited the green and, although the lighting
was not sufficient for me to see exactly what they were doing at the time, I
found shortly afterwards that they had removed the fillings from two holes
without there being a bird or other animal in sight. Now that we definitely
know the cause of our problem I will at first try the pop bottles and if
that fails total disturbance of their habitat must be an option and maybe
the odd visit by a Jack Russell. Should that not work I may seek the help
of our local council.

On Jun 20, 5:17*pm, Jake wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. *I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. *Following tips from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles. *Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

Yes an electric fence seems to be a good deterrent. Once shocked they
don't go near it again.

Doug.

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion crows
or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any doubt
whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and made sure
that all holes were filled and that everything was in order. Then I sat
in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15 pm four
foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited the green and,
although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see exactly what they
were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards that they had removed
the fillings from two holes without there being a bird or other animal in
sight. Now that we definitely know the cause of our problem I will at
first try the pop bottles and if that fails total disturbance of their
habitat must be an option and maybe the odd visit by a Jack Russell.
Should that not work I may seek the help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come from
there.
You will have to do it yourself.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-06-21 01:18:09 +0100, "Emrys Davies" said:


I'm told they don't like alpacas...!


Alpacas and llamas will soon see off a fox, but I doubt they can be kept on
a bowling green.
I wish I had enough room for a couple of alpacas at my house. Foxes after
my chickens are the bane of my life.
After a huge kill during the day, when I filled several sacks with my dead
chickens, which almost broke my heart, I declared war on them.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion crows
or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any doubt
whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and made
sure that all holes were filled and that everything was in order. Then I
sat in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15 pm four
foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited the green and,
although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see exactly what they
were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards that they had removed
the fillings from two holes without there being a bird or other animal in
sight. Now that we definitely know the cause of our problem I will at
first try the pop bottles and if that fails total disturbance of their
habitat must be an option and maybe the odd visit by a Jack Russell.
Should that not work I may seek the help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come
from there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Yes, you are right. Spoke to the council today and they have a neutral
policy regarding foxes. I have totally disturbed the foxes sleeping area on
nearby waste land and will visit it regularly in an endeavour to encourage
them to move on and hopefully that will work. The pop bottles are in place
so I am hoping that they will have the desired effect.

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-06-21 22:46:23 +0100, "Christina Websell"
said:


"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion
crows
or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any doubt
whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and made
sure
that all holes were filled and that everything was in order. Then I sat
in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15 pm four
foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited the green and,
although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see exactly what they
were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards that they had
removed
the fillings from two holes without there being a bird or other animal
in
sight. Now that we definitely know the cause of our problem I will at
first try the pop bottles and if that fails total disturbance of their
habitat must be an option and maybe the odd visit by a Jack Russell.
Should that not work I may seek the help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come
from
there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Not necessarily, if it's an amenity provided by the Council or funded by
it in some way.


Just as a matter of interest, Sacha, phone your local council tomorrow and
tell them you having a problem with foxes.
See what they say and report back ;-)

Tina

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion
crows or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any
doubt whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and
made sure that all holes were filled and that everything was in order.
Then I sat in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15
pm four foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited the green
and, although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see exactly what
they were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards that they had
removed the fillings from two holes without there being a bird or other
animal in sight. Now that we definitely know the cause of our problem I
will at first try the pop bottles and if that fails total disturbance of
their habitat must be an option and maybe the odd visit by a Jack
Russell. Should that not work I may seek the help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come
from there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Yes, you are right. Spoke to the council today and they have a neutral
policy regarding foxes. I have totally disturbed the foxes sleeping area
on nearby waste land and will visit it regularly in an endeavour to
encourage them to move on and hopefully that will work. The pop bottles
are in place so I am hoping that they will have the desired effect.


Continually disturbing their sleeping area might work. Forget the pop
bottles. I've seen the pop bottle idea mooted many times against cats,
foxes. Why would it be effective? Why would a fox be scared of a pop
bottle? they aren't.

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion
crows or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any
doubt whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and
made sure that all holes were filled and that everything was in order.
Then I sat in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and 11.15
pm four foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited the
green and, although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see
exactly what they were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards
that they had removed the fillings from two holes without there being a
bird or other animal in sight. Now that we definitely know the cause
of our problem I will at first try the pop bottles and if that fails
total disturbance of their habitat must be an option and maybe the odd
visit by a Jack Russell. Should that not work I may seek the help of
our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come
from there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Yes, you are right. Spoke to the council today and they have a neutral
policy regarding foxes. I have totally disturbed the foxes sleeping area
on nearby waste land and will visit it regularly in an endeavour to
encourage them to move on and hopefully that will work. The pop bottles
are in place so I am hoping that they will have the desired effect.


Continually disturbing their sleeping area might work. Forget the pop
bottles. I've seen the pop bottle idea mooted many times against cats,
foxes. Why would it be effective? Why would a fox be scared of a pop
bottle? they aren't.

Apparently they see their reflection in the bottle full of water and that
scares them off. I am about to go and to see if the bottles worked last
night and will let you know.

"Doug" wrote in message
...
On Jun 20, 5:17 pm, Jake wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging
a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market
due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden, but
I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop
bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off
as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles.
Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

Yes an electric fence seems to be a good deterrent. Once shocked they
don't go near it again.

Doug.
================================================== =================

if it was about reflection in the water bottles then mirrors would be
better, so it cant be that.

you see a lot of plastic bottles with water in, around plants in tokyo and
it has been done for many years, so it must work.

i've seen twenty or thirty bottles lined up before now. any sensible
suggestions as to why it works? one suggestion is they know its clean water
and dont like to disturb what might be a drinking source. (all instinctive
of course)

what about the movement activated very high pitch noise thingy, you used to
be able to buy?

"Sacha" wrote in message
...
On 2012-06-22 11:08:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies" said:


"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion
crows or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any
doubt whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night
and made sure that all holes were filled and that everything was in
order. Then I sat in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm
and 11.15 pm four foxes, in one instance all at the same time,
visited the green and, although the lighting was not sufficient for
me to see exactly what they were doing at the time, I found shortly
afterwards that they had removed the fillings from two holes without
there being a bird or other animal in sight. Now that we definitely
know the cause of our problem I will at first try the pop bottles and
if that fails total disturbance of their habitat must be an option
and maybe the odd visit by a Jack Russell. Should that not work I may
seek the help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not
considered life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no
help will come from there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Yes, you are right. Spoke to the council today and they have a neutral
policy regarding foxes. I have totally disturbed the foxes sleeping
area on nearby waste land and will visit it regularly in an endeavour
to encourage them to move on and hopefully that will work. The pop
bottles are in place so I am hoping that they will have the desired
effect.


Continually disturbing their sleeping area might work. Forget the pop
bottles. I've seen the pop bottle idea mooted many times against cats,
foxes. Why would it be effective? Why would a fox be scared of a pop
bottle? they aren't.

Apparently they see their reflection in the bottle full of water and that
scares them off. I am about to go and to see if the bottles worked last
night and will let you know.

Some say that (human) male urine is a deterrent. How you go about that is
up to you! This 'neutral policy' thing is silly. If foxes did have
fluffy coats but were rats digging up a local amenity, they'd sing a
different tune.

I have no confidence in any liquid whatsoever as years ago I bought Renadine
(no longer available) to deter foxes which were digging up my heather
cuttings. I dunked teabags in it and placed them in jars as recommended
only to see the foxes messing around with the jars in the early hours.

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in message
...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

"Christina Websell" wrote in
message ...

"Emrys Davies" wrote in message
...

We were not absolutely sure that it was foxes as opposed to carrion
crows or other birds which were causing the damage so to remove any
doubt whatsoever I visited the green at about 9.30 p.m. last night and
made sure that all holes were filled and that everything was in order.
Then I sat in the darkness of our pavillion and between 10 pm and
11.15 pm four foxes, in one instance all at the same time, visited
the green and, although the lighting was not sufficient for me to see
exactly what they were doing at the time, I found shortly afterwards
that they had removed the fillings from two holes without there being
a bird or other animal in sight. Now that we definitely know the
cause of our problem I will at first try the pop bottles and if that
fails total disturbance of their habitat must be an option and maybe
the odd visit by a Jack Russell. Should that not work I may seek the
help of our local council.


Lots of luck with getting a council involved. Foxes are not considered
life-threatening here (and they aren't, normally) so no help will come
from there.
You will have to do it yourself.

Yes, you are right. Spoke to the council today and they have a neutral
policy regarding foxes. I have totally disturbed the foxes sleeping
area on nearby waste land and will visit it regularly in an endeavour to
encourage them to move on and hopefully that will work. The pop bottles
are in place so I am hoping that they will have the desired effect.


Continually disturbing their sleeping area might work. Forget the pop
bottles. I've seen the pop bottle idea mooted many times against cats,
foxes. Why would it be effective? Why would a fox be scared of a pop
bottle? they aren't.

Apparently they see their reflection in the bottle full of water and that
scares them off. I am about to go and to see if the bottles worked last
night and will let you know.

It was a very wet night and and not much damage, if any, is caused on such
nights, but something had slightly disturbed the surface of two holes and a
fox had defecated on the green. Will give it a longer trial period.

"D. T. Green" wrote in message
...

"Doug" wrote in message
...
On Jun 20, 5:17 pm, Jake wrote:
On Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:55:15 +0100, "Emrys Davies"
wrote:

These foxes probably sleep in rough land which is adjacent to the
bowling
green and they are progressively damaging the well kept green by digging
a
few holes each night and also removing the earth from any that has been
repaired. I have no confidence in any repellant products on the market
due
to an experience I had years ago when they damaged my heather garden,
but I
am wondering if anyone has found a way to deter them. Following tips
from
other bowling greens I have acquired a large number of 2 litre pop
bottles
which I shall fill with water and hopefully that will frighten them off
as
they are apparently scared of seeing their reflection in the bottles.
Using
crushed moth balls is another suggestion, but I learn that they are now
banned.

There have been a few discussions here of late and I think the
consensus is that the only effective solution is an electric fence!
Can't speak for pop bottles but it used to be said that they were
effective against cats but I've never seen a cat scared by one ;-)

Yes an electric fence seems to be a good deterrent. Once shocked they
don't go near it again.

Doug.
================================================== =================

if it was about reflection in the water bottles then mirrors would be
better, so it cant be that.

you see a lot of plastic bottles with water in, around plants in tokyo and
it has been done for many years, so it must work.

i've seen twenty or thirty bottles lined up before now. any sensible
suggestions as to why it works? one suggestion is they know its clean
water and dont like to disturb what might be a drinking source. (all
instinctive of course)

what about the movement activated very high pitch noise thingy, you used
to be able to buy?

Three bowling green persons who I have spoken to swear by the water bottles
method and so I was persuaded, but I must say that I have my real doubts. I
am studying high frequency, ultrasound and sonic repellants on Google and
one of their inadequacies in my case would appear to be the distance they
cover. Our green is about 35 yards square and corner to corner is probably
50 yards or so.