Tea bags Tea bags have a strong smell that most cats and foxes dislike, making them an effective deterrent.
You can use certain smells to deter foxes, they are reported to dislike the smell of chilli peppers and garlic so try infusing in boiling water and spraying around your garden as a fox repellent.
Attack The Fox's Sense Of Smell
Using natural ingredients like chilli peppers, garlic and capsaicin will keep the foxes away. Try boiling the chilli pepper and garlic with some water, then mix it in a blender. Spray this mixture anywhere in your garden that you don't want foxes to go near.
For example, foxes hate natural ingredients like chili pepper, garlic, capsaicin, and a chemical compound called alliinase. Sprinkling these foods around your garden will naturally prevent foxes coming near your home and garden. Foxes also hate water, flashing lights, and loud noises.
Foxes have an extremely strong sense of smell and are particularly sensitive to scents like peppermint oil, garlic and chilli powder. These smells can act as effective deterrents and will keep foxes away from your garden.
White vinegar contains a lot of acetic acid which carries a particularly strong and potent smell. Foxes hate the smell because it messes with their sensitive olfactory glands. You can mix up a water and white vinegar solution and spay your bins and property with it although, this will need to be reapplied.
Bone meal or blood-based fertilisers in your flower beds are also a bad idea. Commercially available fox deterrent powders don't seem to work. Online, on gardening forums mainly, you'll find suggestions. Spreading coffee grounds is one.
The strong scent from human male urine (and only male urine) masks a male fox's pungent scent, and can often force them out. But you can buy urea-based products that do the same job (and won't upset your cat). The best can be expensive, so ask at a garden centre, or seek advice from the National Fox Welfare Society.
Scent-based Deterrents
Another scent-based deterrent is citrus peelings, such as orange or lemon peels. Foxes do not like the smell of citrus, so placing these peelings around your garden can effectively repel them.
He explained that gardeners can use lemon juice, boiled water infused with chopped garlic or chilli peppers to deter foxes. However, it's important to know that these methods should be used with caution, in order to prevent harm to animals.
Certain plants can be used as natural repellents to keep foxes away. Plants like lemon balm, lavender and rosemary can be planted around the perimeter of the garden to create an unpleasant smell that foxes don't like.
Tea bags have a strong smell that most cats and foxes dislike, making them an effective deterrent.
To stop foxes pooing in gardens, make your garden as clear and tidy as possible. Foxes like overgrown areas as they provide shelter and places to hide. As well as cutting back plants, also tidy away objects that foxes find interesting, like old shoes and gardening gloves.
You might be surprised. Foxes have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can take advantage of this trait by using scents they dislike, such as chili and cayenne pepper (which are made up of Capsaicin), garlic, white vinegar, and the scent of humans nearby.
THE FOXES ARE NESTING IN AN AREA YOU FREQUENT
Foxes love to build their dens in sheds, wood piles and other outdoor structures. If you're noticing a lot of foxes in an area you frequent, such as in and around your shed, you'll want to get rid of the animals for the sake of convenience.
Most of the time, a fox will run away and hide from a person. However if you are in a situation where a fox approaches you, try to stay calm, slowly back off, and don't make any sudden movements. Try to stand well away so the fox can see that it can get away and you aren't a threat to it.
Fouling: Foxes foul in gardens to scent mark their territory, the same way that dogs will scent mark particular areas on their walks. If they are fouling concrete areas, cleaning with bleach only temporarily masks the smell, so they are still likely to return to the same place.
Dogs, foxes and even rabbits and hares often leave noticeable patches on the grass where they urinate. This happens because their urine is high in nitrogen, which can be useful in small amounts, but not so much if the animal insists on using the same spot again and again.
There are also a range of chemical repellants that are designed to keep foxes (and often other pests) away from the yard, and you can also make your own. One natural option is cayenne pepper and all you have to do is sprinkle it around the perimeter of the garden.
Place gravel down in your garden
Foxes don't like to walk on gravel. The combination of how uncomfortable it feels to them to walk on it, plus the noise it makes, can keep foxes away.
Citrus peels and smells will deter foxes.
One idea is to bury some orange or lemon peels in your garden to prevent foxes from digging holes.
Add lights
Bishop tells us: 'Foxes hate light. They will often get spooked and run away if any sudden lighting appears. I strongly recommend investing in a sensitive motion sensor light and attach it close to where the fox often goes. It's a very effective way to deter them from your garden.
Citronella oil is gleaned from various species of lemongrass and has long been used to repel mosquitoes. It is an effective repellent because it confuses the sense of smell of the fox and causes it to be distracted from entering your garden.