Fox poop on patio just outside back door - what to do

littlerock

I have raised the subject of urban foxes here before but my problem has recently become acute. A fox (I have to assume it is a fox because they are very active round here, none of my neighbours have pets and there is no access to my back garden except over 6 foot walls,) has taken to leaving a steaming nightly pile of pooh right outside my back door. And I mean right outside, on my patio,,just where I open it to go into the garden.

I can cope with the occasional shrivelled up droppings they regularly leave on my front step, all part of marking their territory I assume although I have to disinfect the front path too due to the smell of fox urine.. But this latest event is on an altogether different scale. It is very large and very steaming and very unpleasant and an almost nightly occurrence. Previous suggestions have included getting my OH to "water" the garden but I cannot use this as a deterrent on my patio.

Anyone able to recommend any commercial deterrents which will put the fox off enough to allow me to get my patio back into use?.

londonTiger

dont leave food out

Ant555

I had similar in the same spot on my front driveway a couple of years ago which I think was a fox and I got some cat repellent spray from Wilkinsons. Spray it on a patch on the ground around the area where the 'present' was left.

I have just done a Google search and the bottle doesn't look the same as the one I got but it might just be new packaging. It smells absolutely terrible! - a kind of extremely strong or gone off garlic. Don't get it on your hands as it lingers.

Anyway, I put up with the whiff for a few weeks (it was outside after all) and the problem disappeared - no idea whether it was to do with the spray or just coincidence. I did top it up with a very quick spray every now and then.

Even when the smell subsided for humans, it was probably still quite strong for sensitive animals.

Hope this helps.

Gloomendoom

londonTiger wrote: »

dont leave food out

It's unlikely to make any difference. The fox is marking its territory. I get the same thing on my garden path and there is no food left out. Frustratingly, if I clear it up, a fresh pile appears overnight. If I leave it, the same poop can be there for a week or more.

I think I need to get another cat. I never had a problem with fox poop while the last one was around.

J_B

There was a letter in the paper at he weekend about 'cat deterrent' for your garden.
One option was to have a motion activated water spray system.
Sounded good, but there were no further details

phil24_7

Collect your morning 'tinkle' and spread that around the perimeter of your garden. A PIR security light may also frighten the fox off.

macman

Jeyes fluid is supposed to deter them, they don't like the smell (neither do I).

stator

Find the Fox's home and poop outside the entrance. That'll show him

jakemillspaek

I know its tacky but one of those motion sensor gnome/animal thingies from the bargain shops........or
See the attached....
http://foxrepellentexpert.com/top-10-best-effective-fox-repellents/

I have also used grated citrus peelings to stop cats crapping around my pertunia's

littlerock

I don't leave food out, ever. The foxes breed in their den in next doors overgrown garden (which is like a jungle.) The neighbours are very sweet but very old and will not admit to anything wrong with their garden, I doubt they have been in it for years. OH has "marked" flowerbeds in the past to no avail, they seem to jump over the walls from one of next doors trees and I don't want OH to "mark" the patio just outside the back door as well, really. Deterring them with another smell seems a good idea though, has anyone tried SCOOT for foxes which I saw in my garden centre.