If you've got foxes in your garden or local area and are wondering how to keep them away, are concerned about pets, or are wondering if it's okay to feed foxes, this page will help.

How do I protect chickens and small animals from foxes, or just keep them out of my garden?

Many people enjoy seeing a wild animal as interesting as the fox in their back garden. Where possible, tolerance should be the key to relationships between humanity and local wildlife. However, there are occasions when it is necessary to keep them out, for example in areas used by pet rabbits.

Deterrents

Foxolutions - a huge range of repellents and deterrents

Electric Fence Systems

Electric Fencing Direct

Humane fox scarer

Information

The Fox Project provide advice on resolving issues.

John Bryant offers a humane animal deterrence scheme.

The Humane Society of the US includes a guide to living with foxes on its site.

The Mammal Society has produced a leaflet which gives specific advice on deterring foxes.

Should I feed my local foxes?

In North America, the answer is always no. Unfortunately, there is an assumption on the part of many government officials that any wild animal that does not show immediate fear of people must be innately dangerous, and needs to be killed for public safety reasons. It may sound absurd to European ears, but many thousands of black bears, coyotes and even elk are shot each year in the United States and Canada on this premise. Foxes, despite their diminutive size, are not immune to such beliefs either, even in some national parks. Encouraging animals to remain in urban or semi-rural areas where they may be in danger is not the intention of most people who throw food to wildlife, but, nevertheless, it can be the sad result.

Most of the time, foxes and cats just ignore each other, but should it come to a fight, the fox is at a severe disadvantage due to the cat's deadly claws. Foxes are not as big as they look at a distance. Many cats are physically heavier and much more powerful. A number of foxes have died after being attacked by cats.

Are foxes dangerous to people?

In a nutshell - no, except on very rare occasions.

Foxes are small and physically weak; they sometimes appear fearless because they have learned that they can outrun us, and are trusting in that ability. On the other hand, a fox injured by a car or otherwise trapped will definitely try to bite if handled. So will any wild animal. I once ended up in Accident and Emergency after a young squirrel, wounded by a cat, mistook me for another predator and let me know what its teeth felt like.

It is irresponsible to pet, touch or hand-feed any wild animal, regardless of what country you're in or what species is involved. Consider this: if you hand-feed a fox, it might then innocently approach your neighbour, who might give the press a story about an aggressive fox, call out pest control, or just not like the disturbance. Admire from afar!

There have been a handful of reported fox bites, the most serious of which involved an urban fox cub who wandered into a London house and bit two young babies in June 2010. While any human-wildlife conflict is regrettable, it is important to keep risks in perspective. Dogs account for far more injuries than all their wild relatives combined. Education, humane deterrence and tolerance are the essential cornerstones of a sustainable urban wildlife management plan. 

Will foxes mate with my dog?

No.

It is almost certainly biologically impossible to produce a dog-fox hybrid because red foxes have 34 chromosomes while dogs have 78. The two species are not close relations, and have never been demonstrated to inter-breed.