Foxes

There are foxes living in the Gardens behind where I live. They are keeping me awake by barking in the wee small hours, and they have dug holes in the back garden, and damaged the fence. As it is spring now, I suspect that they have cubs. I have often seen the dog fox trotting along the road at night as they do in many urban areas now.

I have two cats and a small dog, who are nervous of going out now. The foxes have obviously scented my animals and they are marking territory by urine marks. Then of course, my animals mark over the same spaces, which leaves an unholy stench. I have to slosh bucketfuls of water with Zoflora down the outside steps every day to try to keep the unpleasant smell bearable.

I have often looked in the Gardens for where the foxes might be living, and truly, I can't see where they have their Earth. I was coming home one night and was on my silent electric scooter so the dog fox wasn't aware of me until I was quite close, and then he slunk off into the shadows. I saw where he turned in, but he just vanished. Try as I might, I could see no trace of him at all. He just melted away.

I was aware of foxes living here since I moved in in 2003, but this is the first time they are making a nuisance of themselves. They even woke Michelle up with their barking, and she sleeps really heavily.

My upstairs neighbour wants me to write to the Landlord to ask him to do something about the foxes, but what could he do? Hunting them is illegal, and I don't fancy a group of horses and hounds thundering around here all that much. Traps are illegal, and anything that could poison a fox could poison dogs and cats too. I don't wish the foxes any harm - they have to do their best to survive like the rest of us - but I'm getting fed up with their noise and mess.