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Saw a fox last night.

Fifibutton

Wise Old Thumper
I was out for a late night walk to escape the heat of the house and I saw a fox slinking about near some houses. As soon as it saw me it ran away but I heard other foxes in the nearby forest too. I think the heat is forcing a lot of animals to do things they wouldn't normally do. I live rurally and its well known we have foxes but they are incredibly shy so its unusual to see one.

Anyway it reminded me of this and also I wonder can a fox climb and jump over a 6 foot fence? I am going to presume not but want to make sure nonetheless.
 
I was out for a late night walk to escape the heat of the house and I saw a fox slinking about near some houses. As soon as it saw me it ran away but I heard other foxes in the nearby forest too. I think the heat is forcing a lot of animals to do things they wouldn't normally do. I live rurally and its well known we have foxes but they are incredibly shy so its unusual to see one.

Anyway it reminded me of this and also I wonder can a fox climb and jump over a 6 foot fence? I am going to presume not but want to make sure nonetheless.

Omg :shock: I read through that article and it says a fox can easily clear a 6ft fence or wall.
 
That is scary :shock: 4 of my buns live in outdoor runs which are reinforced with strong mesh and wood but the worry is still there. Even if a fox could not get at them the sight or smell of one could cause a heart attack maybe :(

ETA I used metal shutters for night time but I think they could still smell a fox or pick up on hormones through that.
 
yes a fox can easily climb a 6ft fence

had a scare here today not a fox but neighbours cat :evil: I went in house for about 10seconds rabbits where out, then heard a bell, and it was about to attack sox :cry: :evil: I was soo mad
 
had an attempted fox break in last week. found a weak point in my wire on top of fences- clawed though that then dug an enormous hole both sides of the runarround tunnel trying to get my 3. thankfully it did not succed in getting through the weldmesh i have fixed round the tunnel but to be on safe side following day i have encased the tunnel in concrete- its a semi underground one that gives access 24/7 between hutch and greenhouse and i don't want to block it off- i think several inches of concrete should crimp foxes style!

round here it is Very dodgy at the moment as the council has just introduced wheely bins last week and obviously the foxes are hungry and desperate haveing lost the bin bags to raid. i am hoping it will encourage them to disperse and drop numbers over time.
 
I don't know whether it would work well enough.
I recently had a fox make an earth under my shed, & so well camouflaged I didn't see it for months!:shock::oops:

One way to keep unwanted animals out is to use their language & scent.

I started nice & easy & got the 1st. fox out, (you can guess what I used :oops:) next 2 days were pouring rain & fox 2 moved in! Not so easily dealt with, cos it territorily poohed right outside the patio door.
Move 2 I painted the sill of the shed door with Jeyes fluid (so as not to damage any other wild life) Fox moved about 6 yards & tried to make an earth in my compost heap but only succeeded in making compost avalanches.
The key was that my wild life pond was a source of water for them. I had no compunction in dropping the level so they couldn't drink cos there's a stream only 30 yards away. All foxes left.

I'm sorry, but yes they can clear a 6' fence effortlessly. However if they're rural foxes they will indeed be timid.
The trouble with scenting a fence is that you've got to keep it up for a long time.
I wonder whether a small shed might help. If you have small rabbits & make their way in through a short double right angle bend, They can get in but foxy can't. Another hidey hole for the buns in the shed should ease their anxiety. Doesn't have to be safe just burrow like!
 
I don't know whether it would work well enough.
I recently had a fox make an earth under my shed, & so well camouflaged I didn't see it for months!:shock::oops:

One way to keep unwanted animals out is to use their language & scent.

I started nice & easy & got the 1st. fox out, (you can guess what I used :oops:) next 2 days were pouring rain & fox 2 moved in! Not so easily dealt with, cos it territorily poohed right outside the patio door.
Move 2 I painted the sill of the shed door with Jeyes fluid (so as not to damage any other wild life) Fox moved about 6 yards & tried to make an earth in my compost heap but only succeeded in making compost avalanches.
The key was that my wild life pond was a source of water for them. I had no compunction in dropping the level so they couldn't drink cos there's a stream only 30 yards away. All foxes left.

I'm sorry, but yes they can clear a 6' fence effortlessly. However if they're rural foxes they will indeed be timid.
The trouble with scenting a fence is that you've got to keep it up for a long time.
I wonder whether a small shed might help. If you have small rabbits & make their way in through a short double right angle bend, They can get in but foxy can't. Another hidey hole for the buns in the shed should ease their anxiety. Doesn't have to be safe just burrow like!

Gosh that must have been worrying for you, how did wee Benji cope?

I wonder if I should get OH to pee along the fence :oops::lol:
 
Gosh that must have been worrying for you, how did wee Benji cope?

I wonder if I should get OH to pee along the fence :oops::lol:
That's said to be the best scenting for a rural fox in "olden times" (a young virile male).:thumb::lol:
About 18" off the ground =BIG territorial owner!!:lol:
I dread to think what your O/H will think about it. I guess he'll have to do it at night.

I had to laugh a bit about the second fox. It was a right show down as I put pee at it's front door & it put pooh at my door. I wouldn't have laughed so much if I didn't have plan b.

Poor Benjie has been a bag of nerves from the beginning after an awful start. He's a house bun but rarely came out of our bedroom where he's lots of hidey holes, including a burrow of sorts behind storage boxes under the bed. He started to get really spooked at night & I couldn't understand it. Couldn't see anything outside & he didn't spook to distant fox calls. He wouldn't eat unless I was watching or I put his food under the bed, so I got really worried until I realised what it was all about.
Bless him he'd still always dash out to use his litter tray. :love:
Nearly all my animals have had big fear issues, so I couldn't understand why Benjie wasn't making progress.

Although there is a local fox problem there are many copses & woods nearby, & the woodsmen have been leaving dead wood on the ground to encourage the fox's normal diet. There are some large wildie warrens too.
Our local problem is that they've just built a large estate displacing mainly rural foxes into the suburbs & they haven't dispersed properly yet.

Benjie just hasn't wanted to go out until 2 weeks ago. I stay very close to him & my whole attention is on the alert, mainly for bird alarm calls. I also know that I can make a noise that sends foxes packing.

He's such a sweetie, out, rush back in, out, in, - making sure he can run fast enough to safety indoors. He pelts back in if I call him.
I'm not too sure about healthy rabbits getting heart attacks with foxes, cos if they can get to their burrows a fox won't try to dig them out.
The really nasty predators are stoats weasles & ferrets. Not only can they easily get inside warrens, but it's been well noticed that wildies peg out before they get to the burrow & die from heart attack even when saved by human intervention.:cry:

I've an impression that rabbits particularly dislike the sound of a predator close above them. If it's possible to stop anything getting on top of the hutch eg 1/2" plastic mesh overlapping the roof & about 1" above it would be a good start. A similar V shape over the flat top of the run helps.
Yes a fox can easily bite through plastic mesh but the object isn't safety it's stopping them from getting above.
Finally steel wire mesh like a 8" skirt attached to the bottom & outside the run helps to stop digging in. Obviously grass grows through it so you can't move the run.

The other big change I've noticed in Benjie is that he listens to me now. He's so desirous to please me & always responds to "A-a" but we're beginning to communicate better at last. Some of this might be due to a course of Bach flower remedy for PTS - Agrimony. Some (non rabbit) rescues swear by it.
 
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