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How to get rid of unwanted visitors

johnwhitfield

johnwhitfield

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John Whitfield
Over the last couple of months things have been going missing from the house.

Last night at 3am there was a loud smashing noise in the kitchen and the dog went ballistic.

Seems that the foxes are no longer content with living under the shed and they are now running around the bloody house. 🤬

The little bastard is forcing the cat flap open and making off with whatever food he can find.

I’m amazed that it’s quite this brazen given how much the house must smell of dog.

Now how do I stop this? We need the cat flap so can’t just board it up. I’ve ordered some lion poo scent stuff but suspect that’s not going to work.

Much as I would enjoy creating some type of fox decapitator above the door I suspect that’s not exactly legal.

Do I now just have to accept we have a pet fox living with us?

Obviously I’m also being blamed for the damages caused.
 

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I've had foxes sniffing around my cat flap before (giggity) but I keep my cat in at night time so the cat flap is locked with a bin in front of it. If they are that brazen it's because they are hungry/desperate for food.

Remove any obvious signs of food if possible.
 
johnwhitfield said:
Much as I would enjoy creating some type of fox decapitator above the door I suspect that’s not exactly legal.
Click to expand...

If nothing else, it would put huge pressure on your cat/fox detection system to be 100% accurate ;)


You can get 'smart' cat flaps which only open in certain hours and others that only open when an NFC chip (in the collar) is detected - not sure if either of those are options?
 
Food is 100% part of the problem. We used to feed the cats in the back room. Yesterday I moved the food into the kitchen which in hindsight was a mistake. My wife is now missing an expensive glass bowl, a shoe and a handbag. 😱

I’m far from convinced this is only happening at night though so I think I’m going to have to chuck the cat out the back door all day.

Technically our cat flap operates on a micro chip but other cats already learnt how to force that open.

The fox deterrent is arriving today but it’s not going to do anything is it?
 
 
Thanks. That’s pretty much what we already had installed. Given it’s 15 years old though it might be worth replacing with a new one.
With the last one stronger cats could just force their way through.
 
I can also recommend the SureFlap, two small lugs pop up from the bottom and stop the door moving - wouldn't be easy to force without breaking the lugs off (unless it's a really smart fox and can get a grip on the door to pull it back towards itself)

We had another cat coming in via a normal non locking flap and nicking our cat's food, I put a sureflap in which has worked perfectly, the other cat spent 6 weeks banging on the door at 3am but it's never made it in and has now given up.
 
Yikes . I thought getting a few mice in the winter was bad enough 😬

Loads foxes round here - luckily never come through our unused/ locked cat flap . They have f^vked up a fence panel that they climb over to get in the garden , knock over pots rooting about for food , **** on stuff , chew anything left out to pieces , make a bloody racket howling and generally **** me right off. 😡

Only one answer …..

 
ChrisH said:
I can also recommend the SureFlap, two small lugs pop up from the bottom and stop the door moving - wouldn't be easy to force without breaking the lugs off (unless it's a really smart fox and can get a grip on the door to pull it back towards itself)

We had another cat coming in via a normal non locking flap and nicking our cat's food, I put a sureflap in which has worked perfectly, the other cat spent 6 weeks banging on the door at 3am but it's never made it in and has now given up.
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Sureflap also worked for us with other cats coming in the house.

Fortunately we don't get any foxes as we live in the country.
 
Looks like I’m upgrading the cat flap.

Our foxes are ****ing hard to scare off. They literally walking behind the dog sometimes (she absolutely hates them). Constantly going through the food bins and scattering stuff.

I was tempted to sleep downstairs tonight and see if the dog could savage it a bit but I suspect she might come off worse.
 
I'm sure i read somewhere human hair hanging from a leg from a pair of tights dotted around kept them away?
 
club.omlet.co.uk

Human hair to deter foxes

I read the above in the omlet bumpf. Is that true? And how big do the bags have to be? I'm also assuming that the bags have to be cloth??? I've already allowed visiting males (human only) to urinate in the garden! I must be mad
club.omlet.co.uk club.omlet.co.uk
 
I think that’s for witches rather than foxes 😉

If human hair repulsed them I would be fox free forever. Our house is nothing but hair. It’s like someone shaved big foot in our living room.

Between me, my wife and my daughter we leave enough hair to make rope on a daily basis. Even the dog has a bloody pony tail 😂
 
Just been in the living room. Carnage in there as well.

So he checked out my games room, went into the kitchen then had an explore upstairs. Cheeky little bastard.
 
We lived in Vauxhall approx 15 years ago, my wife often retells the story of a fox in our back yard staring me down in broad daylight. I flinched first, the washing wasn't dried outside for a while after 🐔
 
I also stuck a similar post on our local Facebook page. It never fails. I’ve already got people moaning that I’m being cruel to foxes 😂

Meanwhile on here practical advice about 12 gauge shotguns. 😀
 
I’ve just come back from my bro in laws garage and mentioned this, his mate was there that shoots for a hobby and said his mate saw a fox on his shooting land where pheasants live so got his gun out and shot it. Then saw another and shot it, he shot about 5 or 6 in total and then found out the RSPCA were letting foxes free there that came from a local town!

I bet when they heard the shots they drove off quick😂
 
M4carp said:
I’ve just come back from my bro in laws garage and mentioned this, his mate was there that shoots for a hobby and said his mate saw a fox on his shooting land where pheasants live so got his gun out and shot it. Then saw another and shot it, he shot about 5 or 6 in total and then found out the RSPCA were letting foxes free there that came from a local town!

I bet when they heard the shots they drove off quick😂
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Same here; there is a lot of shooting land around us (pheasants / grouse) so the foxes just get shot on sight. I've even seen facebook postings from locals who don't own guns telling the shooters where a fox was sighted so the shooters know where to go looking.
 
My ridgeback is of the Rhodesian variety but still big and with a bark on him. He chases the fox and it causes an almighty rackey but the fox always escapes. Recently, I have seen the fox in the garden during the day when the wife is walking the dog, the fox is clearly desperate enough to risk it and will adapt for the environment.
Coming into a house via a cat flap is pretty extreme though, that fox isn't acting within the usual realms of normal animal nature. As an animal lover, I don't think that this foxes behaviour should be supported or enabled. Never sure that shooting them doesn't cause another pest issue somewhere else in a rural environment but in New Cross, that isn't the issue.
 
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