Foxes - any unusual remedies ?

[whiffey]

I have a fox and 3 cubs regularly playing in the garden, very pretty and all that, but very destructive to flower beds.

I tried pepper dust, but it is expensive (�4-50) and not particularly effective. Next I tried cayenne pepper, which works a treat but I ran out. Finally I have bought a large (1lb) bag of chilli powder fpr just �1-29. As well as being fiery red on the ground, it deters digging beautifully.

Peeing on the flower beds is said to be good too, but only after dark !

Do you have any unusual remedies for keeping foxes, cats, away from flower beds ?

[mrbatfink]

Put egg shell down on the flower bed, its not nice to walk on for animals but does not hurt them.

[spaced]

large dog or even a shotgun may resolve the matter

[WendyS]

I've read that human urine is supposed to be a deterrent. However, if you put too much of it on your lawn or flower beds it may cause problems to your plants. Maybe you could just leave little jars of it stuck in the earth in between your plants to see it it works ?

[whiffey]

WendyS that has made me laugh, thank you !

I had visions of peeing carefully into loads of little spice jars and sinking them gently into the flower beds.

Last night I sprinkled loads of pelleted chicken manure over the beds and watered it in well. The smell is interesting to say the least, but either that or the chilli powder is doing the trick because the salvias are intact this morning.

[edwardian]

Greetings

An expert on our local radio station suggested going to your local zoo/safari park and asking for lion dung! I believe you can also purchase a pelleted form.He said it works like a dream!.I think it would probably get rid of the neighbours as well

Now there's a thought!

http://www.vegsoc.org/info/pests.html

[Breezy23]

I'm led to believe that the smell of human hair deters foxes. Some people with smallholdings tie up bags of it and put it around their chicken coups. If you chat nicely to your local hairdressers I'm sure they bag some up for you to try, perhaps put some in hessian bags or similar and if it works it won't cost you a penny.