Best Fox Deterrents: How to Make Your Property Less Appealing to Foxes
Discover the best ways to outfox these intruders
Highlights
Removing what makes your property attractive to foxes—food, water, and shelter—is an effective deterrent.
Foxes can easily get into homes thanks to their retractable rib cages.
Homeowners should work with wildlife control experts when DIY solutions don't work.
Foxes are incredibly clever creatures that thrive in various environments. However, their resourcefulness can be a nuisance for homeowners. They might damage your lawn and plants, disturb your pets, or enter your home looking for food. To help you protect your property, we've compiled the best fox deterrents.
What Attracts Foxes?
The first step to keeping foxes away is understanding why they might be showing up in the first place. Readily available food, convenient shelter, and accessible water sources make your property appealing to foxes.
How to Deter Foxes
Removing attractors and installing barriers can make your property less inviting.
1. Remove Food Sources
Foxes are opportunistic eaters. Keeping them out of your yard can be as simple as eliminating food sources. One significant source is pet food, so keep it indoors. The same goes for food scraps. Only put your garbage bins out on trash pick-up days, and ensure they have tightly sealed lids.
Fruit and vegetables also attract foxes and the rodents they like to eat. Pick up fallen produce in your yard and protect gardens with fox-proof mesh.
The same is true for bird feeders. Hungry foxes will gobble up any spillage and the small critters attracted to the seed. Remove or place these feeders where foxes and rodents can’t access them. Remember, foxes are excellent climbers and can scale trees, walls, and fences.
2. Remove Water Sources
Most creatures appreciate a convenient drink—bird baths, ponds, pet water bowls, or even a leaky garden hose in your yard can attract foxes. To keep them away, raise your bird baths out of their reach, bring pet water bowls inside at night, fix leaks, and cover ponds, especially if they have fish.
3. Remove Access to Shelter
Check your property for potential hiding spots, such as dense bushes, debris, sheds, and under decks and porches. Afterward, trim overgrown bushes, clear garden debris, and remove piles of wood or rocks where foxes might hide.
Next, ensure any structures are securely closed or sealed. If you find openings and gaps, seal them with fox-proof netting or mesh and bury the material at least a foot underground to stop foxes from digging underneath. Consider reinforcing your work with a concrete base to prevent burrowing.
4. Create an Unpleasant Environment
Foxes are extremely cautious animals, so if you turn your yard into a happening place, they won’t be keen to check it out. Add motion-activated sprinklers or lighting to spook foxes when they wander onto your property. Sometimes, playing music can also deter foxes from getting too close. This tactic is best used in tandem with the above solutions.
5. Use Fox Repellents
Chemical-based fox repellents and more natural solutions like human male urine can work. However, homeowners need to apply these repellents frequently around their property, and these scents may not deter some foxes. For repellents to be truly effective, combine them with other strategies.
How Can Foxes Enter My Home?
Foxes are enticed into homes by the scent of food, finding their way through open windows, doors, and pet flaps. Once inside, they scavenge through kitchens, searching for anything they can eat, including fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, and garbage.
To prevent these critters from entering, secure all possible entry points into your home. Foxes have retractable rib cages, allowing them to squeeze themselves through a square opening of 4 inches.
Here are tips to consider:
Secure and close all windows and doors, especially at night and when you’re not home.
Install sturdy window screens.
Consider using electronic pet flaps on pet doors that allow only pets with microchips or magnetic collars to enter.
Seal off any crawl spaces, gaps, and cracks in and around your home.
Add steel or hard rubber door sweeps to your home's entrances that foxes can't squeeze through.
How to Get Rid of Foxes
If DIY solutions aren’t getting rid of foxes, it is time to call a local wildlife control professional.
These professionals are highly qualified to remove foxes from your yard due to their specialized training and expertise in handling wild animals. They are familiar with local and federal laws regarding wildlife capture and relocation, ensuring all actions are within legal boundaries to protect homeowners and animals. Wildlife removal costs average $400, depending on your location and specific situation. The more animals to remove, the higher the cost will be, from a single fox costing as little as $200 to a bill of over $1,000 to remove a mother fox and her kits.
Frequently Asked Questions
Foxes hate strong scents and sudden disturbances. They dislike the smell of ammonia, vinegar, garlic, chili peppers, and predator urine, which can make an area less appealing. Motion-activated lights and sprinklers also unsettle them, as foxes prefer to avoid sudden movements and bright lights. Additionally, they are wary of loud noises and unexpected sounds.
While foxes may find them unpleasant, mothballs are not an effective deterrent. Additionally, mothballs are toxic for humans and animals and should never be used outside. They contain naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene, which are very harmful to the environment. Use safer, more reliable deterrents, or hire a professional wildlife control expert.