Poo help please!

[StephanieSB]

Well, Holly is not affected by the Foxwatch, I am happy to say. I had read on the website when ordering that many dogs are and was worried. She does hear something, but it doesn't phase her or stop her from wandering about the garden. She may even only be hearing the faint beep that we humans can hear whenever the motion sensor is activated -- it's hard to tell.

 

Now, tonight is the first test on Mr Knucklehead, our neighbourhood fox. We forgot to put out our trash on bank holiday Monday, so our plastic bins overfloweth... the usual lure for our kindly four-legged gentleman to pay us a visit. We shall see if our bags are torn open or there are droppings left behind to announce his tenure.

 

I do hope this works. I have a month until the chickens arrive, but I want him well and truly turned off our garden before then, so he goes and finds new pastures.

[puffball]

ooh i really hope it works!!

 

let us know x

[StephanieSB]

Well, I will count this as a (cautious) success: the fox seems to have been around but to have left in a hurry. One bin bag was troubled, tiny tear and you can see there was an attempt to pull something out. But the animal must have been too irritated to continue and ran off before doing its usual wrecking and strewing about the lawn.

 

Hopefully, any other attempts at the house will cause it so much irritation it will think our patch is just not worth it.

 

We also have a product called Wildlife Deterrent, which is a powder, mixed with water and sprinkled around the periphery of the property -- supposedly the scent wards them off.

 

Maybe with both going over the next month, the fox will start to see ours as a bad place to visit and not bother to come sniff us out when the hens arrive.

[Egluntyne]

My friends parents got a Foxwatch after hearing me talk about it, not because they have chickens, but because of the constantly overturned bins and fouling in the garden too.

 

They to reckoned that it worked straight away, and now only have very occasional problems rather than every day.

[StephanieSB]

Just an update for dog owners: Holly can hear the Foxwatch, and she doesn't like it. She won't go in the garden when it is on anymore. She did go out with it on first thing this morning (as I described above), but now she watches me turn it off (we have it plugged into the mains) before she will venture out. So, during the day, I will have to turn it on and off as needed.

 

Also, I realised today, by the number of wild birds that have flocked to my lawn, that the fox must have been spending quite a lot of daytime hours lurking about unnoticed by humans. I left the Foxwatch on all day while we went to the farm show -- we got back and the birds were happily holidaying all over the place. Interesting.

[StephanieSB]

Just a final update: Foxwatch is working brilliantly!

 

We went away for the weekend. We had to leave five bin bags on the back patio, as there was no room available in the plastic bin this week. In the past, this was just an invitation for le fox to come dine a la carte. But nothing. Not a sign of our 7 year long nightly visitor anywhere.

 

So my husband can now cancel the order for that air rifle

[Ain't Nobody Here]

What a great way to sort your fox problem - deter him before you actually get chickens . Brilliant .

 

Hopefully you'll feel less anxious when your girls arrive (although you'll still need to be a bit wary!)

[Olly]

Glad to hear it's worked - I am totally convinced by it (although I would never leave them free-ranging and just rely on it). I would like to get a second one when funds permit, to cover two angles of the garden.