Six smells foxes absolutely hate in your garden and how to deter them naturally (2024)
If you have found foxes are regularly digging up your garden beds and keeping you up at night, these six smells will act as a natural deterrent because the animals absolutely hate them
They call foxes crafty for a reason, so you'll have to step your game up with these smells to outsmart them.
It's mating season for your local neighbourhood foxes, so their calls are likely to be waking a lot of people up in the middle of the night as they get noisier at this time of year. As territorial animals, if your garden sits in the area they call home, foxes aren't likely to distinguish that you would prefer that they gave it a wide berth and stopped digging up your flower beds and beloved home vegetable plots.
As far as they are concerned, it's their habitat, and if you'd prefer they stayed away you're going to have to get creative to keep them at bay - and this expert-approved hack that incorporates scents that naturally repel the animals should be your first port of call.
As reported in The Sun, experts from Mesh Direct explained that if you are keen to rid your green space of foxes, the best thing you can do is make it an unappealing an environment as possible for the creatures - and one way they recommend doing so is by using the animals' incredibly good sense of smell against them.
"Foxes have a very strong sense of smell, and you can use this to your advantage. The creatures find certain scents unpleasant, so applying pungent natural repellents can discourage them from entering your garden."
This easy hack will only take you a few minutes but will need to be reapplied as over time the strong scents lose their potency. The experts advise that you will need some citronella, peppermint oil, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, and citrus peel - all of which are scents that will seriously put off foxes from entering your garden.
"The above ingredients smell off-putting to foxes, but won't cause them any harm," they explained, "They also have the added benefit of deterring any neighbourhood cats in a humane way, too."
They explain that you should grab an empty spray bottle and mix the peppermint oil and citronella - a few drops of each - with water inside, and keep adding drops of the oils until it produces a strong scent. Then target your spray at areas that are the most likely to attract foxes - like your bins or compost heap - and around the perimeter fences. Then grab your chili, cayenne pepper, and garlic powder, and give these spots a healthy application - and you should keep foxes out of your garden until the smell depletes.
The experts explain: "These simple hacks are humane and won’t harm foxes, but can make a significant difference in keeping them at a respectful distance. Foxes are clever creatures, which can make repelling them quite tricky.
''Using a combination of deterrents together with the physical barrier of a sturdy wire mesh fence will offer the best long-term protection against foxes, with the added bonus of increasing your overall garden security.
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The experts advise that you will need some citronella, peppermint oil, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic, and citrus peel - all of which are scents that will seriously put off foxes from entering your garden.
Foxes have an extremely strong sense of smell and are particularly sensitive to scents like peppermint oil, garlic and chilli powder. These smells can act as effective deterrents and will keep foxes away from your garden.
For example, foxes hate natural ingredients like chili pepper, garlic, capsaicin, and a chemical compound called alliinase. Sprinkling these foods around your garden will naturally prevent foxes coming near your home and garden. Foxes also hate water, flashing lights, and loud noises.
Widely acclaimed as the most effective fox repellent on the market Scoot is a patented non toxic formula used to keep foxes away from protected areas. It works by mimicking scent marking odours thus leading any foxes that may be present to vacate the area in the belief that another animal has taken over its territory.
Certain natural ingredients can also be used as fox repellents. For example, you can make a solution of water and vinegar and spray it around your garden. The strong smell of vinegar can help to repel foxes. Another natural ingredient that can be used is human hair.
Foxes are extremely sensitive to smells, so strong and pungent smells will keep foxes out of your garden if you use them well. They particularly hate chilli powder, coffee grounds, citrus fruit, and garlic. If you can, try to infuse these smells in water and then spray the concoction around your garden.
Foxes are afraid of people, loud noises, flashing lights and sudden movements. If you come across a fox, you can yell at it or throw something in its direction to scare them away. There are also ultrasonic devices, available for sale that emit a high-pitch noise that only animals can hear.
Adding visual and auditory disturbances can also help to prevent foxes from attacking. You can use wind chimes, reflective tape, and other shiny objects to create visual disturbances that scare off these predators.
The London Wildlife Trust says the “wee rumour is true”, telling Time Out magazine: “The strong scent from human male urine (and only male urine) masks a male fox's pungent scent, and can often force them out.”
1080 is an odourless, tasteless white powder that has a special dye added for identification of the toxin. It is used for poisoning of foxes by incorporating it into fresh, dried or processed meat baits.
You can use certain smells to deter foxes, they are reported to dislike the smell of chilli peppers and garlic so try infusing in boiling water and spraying around your garden as a fox repellent.
Foxes are afraid of people, loud noises, flashing lights and sudden movements. If you come across a fox, you can yell at it or throw something in its direction to scare them away. There are also ultrasonic devices, available for sale that emit a high-pitch noise that only animals can hear.
Strong-smelling herbs and spices like lavender, marigold, and cayenne pepper can help deter foxes. Loud noise can also be a helpful deterrent against foxes.
Introduction: My name is Barbera Armstrong, I am a lovely, delightful, cooperative, funny, enchanting, vivacious, tender person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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