Where to go and what can I expect

I have foxes around here, it quite noisy at night at the moment as they are mating now, they have dens in the allotments at the back of my garden, they often dig holes, I usually go round in the mornings and firm down any holes they have dug.
They also stink a bit marking their territory but I just live with it, part of nature,you cant really fight it, they sometimes dig under fencing or break it down if possible, once they get a territory its not easy to exclude them.

I often get pigeon feathers on the ground but I'm convinced its a sparrow hawk, you rarely see them doing the act, they hang around feeders and where birds collect.

The other main predator I get is a heron, eyeing up my fish in the pond, grabbed my biggest one a while back, its all part of nature and I dont think you can do much other than work with it.

 

Ah, you are one of those who just live with it when the youngsters from the village smash everything

Thanks for the tip with the hawk. It could have been red kites that grabbed the pigeons.

I got delivered a new bird bath, the other one didn't survive the frost and my hot water.
I will think about all of your suggestions.

 

Definitely put kids in a different pigeon hole to wildlife, one knows what it's doing is annoying, the other is just trying to survive.

 

I bought a couple of solar powered devices that apparently give off an ultrasonic beep when something comes in range. It's difficult to know if they're effective as the garden disruption comes and goes. I've certainly seen small holes dug in my borders over the last week, so I think I'll dust off the devices again. The only snag is they apparently also flash lights so I need to ensure they don't irritate neighbours.

 

I’m wondering if some type of protection would help @simone_in_wiltshire ? We have a couple of different sized cages which we put over certain places in the garden to protect them from all sorts. We don’t have foxes here but they might help? Something like this….





They are collapsible and very light and easy to put up. The big cage over ( what we call ) the veg plot (; as it started life as that!) folds down nd we then hang it up at the side of the shed, attached to the shed with some nails, when no longer needed.



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Simone I would be very happy to send you some of our sparrows. We have a local population that has really boomed and I can regularly count over 50 in our front hedge. They get fed by all the neighbours but I'm like you and don't feed the birds myself.
I have a love hate relationship with them. I love birds in general but from about now until June they really irritate me because they are just so destructive. If they were getting something out of it then I'd be happier but it just seems like needless vandalism. I know farmers used to shoot them because they destroyed pea crops but for me they strip all the emerging buds from my acers, viburnum (meaning I never get flowers) and the blossom from my apples. I have to cover my acer but I always get there to late.

I agree that the feathers could be a bird predator. I was coming home yesterday and right in front of me flew a magnificent sparrowhawk with what I think was a sparrow in its talons (it may have been a robin but it was near where the sparrows hang out). I see the remnants of pigeons quite frequently down our allotment, hidden between the raspberries and know that's a female sparrowhawk (females go for larger birds like pigeons, decapitate and de feather so they are lite enough to carry away).

The issue we have with a high cat population is the amount of poo, the fact they love our garden so squash all the plants laying on them and the fact I can't grow one of my favourite plants, catmint, because it never lasts more than a couple of days with them. We also have the problem that I want a garden for wildlife and their predatory instincts just make it so hard. Our neighbours cats are lovely, they are friendly and follow us about. The male is to fat and old to worry about killing anything but his sister is more predatory and that includes eating frogs, crickets, butterflies or anything else it can catch.
I guess it would be easier if we were the limiting factor in our gardens not outside influences.

 

@Thevictorian, @Songbird, @shiney, @pete, @CarolineL thanks for your comment.

The chicken wire sounds interesting and is doable with my limited woman's power

I had moved the camera into the garden just to see what happens and I wish, I wouldn't know.
It's like Oxford Street. In each of the sessions, they are around 10 minutes in the garden, some single foxes, others are couples. I had 51 videos. The single foxes follow the paths (good to know, I noticed the same effects with cats).
19:42
19:58
20:08
20:22
20:50
23:01
23:25
0:50
2:11
2:20
2:56
3:10
One can be grateful that there is still something alive.
Behind the Exochorda, two are playing. They appeared 3 times during the night and on one video, they were chasing each other and running over everything. They were the tornado that flattened the fern and all Astrantia plants, and they marked around the Spirea (broken branch)



I know where they come from and go and maybe I can find a solution with Chicken wire.

I will ask the neighbour if he is the one with the dog barking device

 

Dog barking device? Is there a device for the owner of such a dog? If so, I want one .

 

Admittedly it doesn't look great, but in the spring when I plant out young veg plants or seeds I often put lots of short sticks in the ground, about a foot apart, it doesn't stop foxes using certain paths but it does help to stop them playing.
The playing is usually worse when the cubs come out in late spring.

 

There were quite a few recommendations for those ultra sonic devices which people found useful for deterring cats. Don't know whether they would work on foxes ?
We do have a lot of Wood Pigeons and Collared Doves and I have seen the Sparrowhawk take one of the doves and sit there plucking away before taking off with it.

 

I checked the corner on the top left side where they come into the garden. I will take care of that once the weather has calmed down.
The other parts along the fences will be taken care of too. Shiney’s chicken wire sounds good. Maybe it helps to reduce the numbers.
I have to stress that they use paths and empty spaces, only that playful couple is really a problem. I saw them this morning at 7 in downstairs garden. No mercy while fighting or playing.

 

What found on Amazon and in the internet, they also reach birds. I don’t want to stress wildlife especially birds because of the foxes.

 

Not heard of it affecting birds but if so, I agree it's not a good solution. Good luck

 

I think the ultrasonic ones only work at night, so shouldn't cause problems for birds, since owls don't lurk low down.