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Living with foxes
Foxes show how wildlife can live side by side with people in London.
Most if the time they are hardly noticed, while many people take great
pleasure in seeing a truly wild animal in their neighbourhood. But
sometimes foxes can become a nuisance. This document highlights some
of the problems which foxes can cause and shows how they can be dealt
with in a humane and effective way.

About foxes
Foxes have become more common in some London Boroughs than in the
surrounding countryside. This is because they are very adaptable and
can survive in a wide range of places, eating many types of food. Much
of the food they eat in London is scavenged off the city streets or
from under bird tables. They also eat earthworms, small animals and
fruit. Adult foxes are a little larger than a domestic cat and they
live in small family groups, especially during the breeding season.

Fox problems
What a racket
Between December and February you may hear the most unearthly
screaming sounds late at night. This is sometimes called the “vixen's
scream” and is thought to be the sound made by the female fox to show
she is ready to mate. Once reassured about this sound, most people are
happy to live with the noise while the foxes are mating. If it does
become intolerable, you can move the foxes on by using a strong
smelling repellent such as the types you can buy to deter cats.

Mess and smells
As well as barking and screaming, foxes communicate with each other
using scents. They produce strong smelling urine and faeces to mark
their territories. You may occasionally find that a fox is visiting
your garden and leaving a smelly message behind! If your garden is
very important for a fox, it is likely to mark the area with strong
smells very regularly.

While many people are happy to know that their garden is important for
foxes, if you really want to deter them, the simplest way is to remove
the reason why they are visiting. This could be food left on a compost
heap or under a bird table, or a favourite hiding place such as under
a shed.

Foxes and pets
It is extremely rare for a fox to attack a cat. Most of the time they
simply ignore each other. Remember that foxes are really quite small
and they pose no threat to dogs. Foxes' natural prey includes small
birds and mammals, so they will eat pet rabbits, guinea pigs or
chickens given the chance.

The best way to protect rabbits, chickens and other small pets is to
make sure they are kept in secure hutches or enclosures. It is also
essential to prevent a fox from digging its way in to the enclosure. A
simple way of doing this is to lay chicken wire underneath the
enclosure.

Fox homes
Foxes spend much of their time resting in an "earth". During the
breeding season, young fox cubs live in the earth until they are old
enough to start exploring the outside world. In the countryside,
earths are usually in small tunnels hidden away among fallen trees or
the banks of hedges. In London, fox earths can be found under sheds,
in cellars or any other quiet place.

If you have foxes using your shed or cellar as an earth, you must be
very careful if you want to deter them. This is because you could
disturb the young foxes that may be living there. It is probably safer
to attempt this between September and December outside the breeding
season.

SOURCES OF HELP/WANT TO KNOW MORE?
The Fox Project runs problem solving advice lines
Fox Deterrence: 0906 272 4411
Dealing with sick foxes: 0906 272 4422
Fox indentification / foxes and pets: 0906 272 4433
Fox Project (administration line): 01732 367397
Urban Foxes by Stephen Harris (Whittet Books)
Running with the Fox by David Macdonald (Unwin Paperbacks)
Fox problems
Dustbin devils?
Foxes are blamed for ripping open plastic bin liners and overturning
dustbins. While foxes will scavenge from almost everywhere, it should
be remembered that domestic cats and rats have very similar habits and
may be to blame for causing a mess. While the introduction of wheely-
bins has reduced the problem in some areas, the easiest way to solve
it to make sure that you have a dustbin that can be securely closed.

Gardeners World
Foxes will eat fruit, bulbs and other sorts of vegetation. They may
occasionally dig for earthworms, but usually prefer to catch them when
they are on the surface. If you are finding that your garden is
suffering from this sort of attention, you must be sure that it is
really foxes that are causing the problem. If you want to deter them,
make sure that the problem really warrants it, then use the methods
outlined on the back of this leaflet.

Shoes and toys
Foxes are very playful creatures and will sometimes steal shoes and
toys left lying around. You will probably find them tom apart in a
quiet part of the garden. To avoid this, make sure you keep shoes and
toys indoors, well out of reach of your neighbourhood fox!

Foxes and disease
Many people are concerned that foxes may spread disease. In mainland
Europe foxes do carry rabies, but there has not been an outbreak in
the UK for many years.

Wild foxes have never been found suffering from distemper and are
unlikely to spread this serious disease among dogs. Foxes can suffer
from Weil's disease (leptospirosis), but properly vaccinated pets are
not at risk.

Mange is an infestation by parasitic mites, which causes skin
irritation and loss of fur. This has spread rapidly among foxes and
has caused their disappearance from many areas. This disease can be
transferred to pets (especially dogs), but is easily treated.

If you find a diseased or distressed fox, report it to the RSPCA
immediately.

FEEDING FOXES
Although there is usually plenty of food for foxes to catch or
scavenge, many people enjoy feeding them. If you want to feed foxes,
tinned dog food is very nutritious. However, the London Wildlife Trust
recommends that you should stop feeding foxes if you discover that a
neighbour is finding them a nuisance. This should ensure that extreme
measures will not be taken to get rid of them.

DETERRING FOXES
The hazards which foxes pose to people are very small indeed and the
nuisance they may cause is usually short lived. London Wildlife Trust
believes that foxes are an important part of the city's ecology and
should be tolerated instead of persecuted. If it becomes necessary to
deter them from an area, we recommend the following humane and
effective actions:

Make sure it really is foxes that are causing the problem - domestic
pets or other animals could be responsible.
Remove possible sources of food - such as scraps from compost heaps,
fallen food from bird tables or plastic bin liners full of kitchen
waste. If this is not possible, make sure that foxes cannot reach the
food by building some sort of barrier.
Make sure that small pets and chickens are housed in strong hutches or
enclosures and that foxes cannot dig their way in.
If foxes are visiting your vegetable patch, fence off their favourite
food with netting and place chicken wire just under the soil to
protect bulbs.
If foxes have made a home in your garden use strong smelling
repellents and then carefully block access to their earth. First of
all place a strong smelling repellent around the entrance to the
earth. After a few days, lightly block the entrance with soil, so that
the vixen can dig out and remove any young foxes that might be living
there. Once you are sure that foxes are no longer using the earth, you
can block it up more securely.
Discourage foxes from gaining access to your garden by making sure
fences do not have any gaps.
You can deter foxes with strong smells such as the repellents used to
deter dogs and cats.
FOLLOW THE FOX CODE
Local authorities are not obliged to control foxes. London Wildlife
Trust calls on all local authorities, pest control companies and
individuals to adopt the fox code so that people and foxes can
continue to live together.

The killing, trapping and transportation of foxes should never be
undertaken to solve a nuisance. This is cruel and will usually not
work since other foxes will quickly take over a vacant territory.
Where foxes are causing a serious nuisance, using the types of humane
methods described in this leaflet to deter but not harm them.
We should aim to live in harmony with foxes and other wildlife that
shares our city and celebrate the fact that foxes have adapted to
urban life.
Written by: Steve Micklewright