[david2004]

How can I attract Foxes? I have seen on some websites of people feeding foxes in their gardens.

I hear a lot of foxes screeching during the night. Usually it's in the field next to my house. They used to attack our dustbins (!) but haven't for a long time.

I was thinking - how could I attract them e.g. for feeding on the front lawn?


Similarly, for badgers too?

Thanks.

[cavan wood]

Raise chickens.

[WMcLean]

Originally Posted by cavan wood

Raise chickens.

Works like a charm.

I have been known to put out snacks for the foxes when the snow cover is heavy. I serve leftovers, bread, dog kibble - whatever is at hand. The trick is to keep other animals out of it. When I have done it, I have picked places that my little dogs couldn't get to and I only feed them when food is scarce. Last winter we had heavy ice cover for a couple of weeks and the foxes started eating spilled sunflower seed, so I put out some "meatier" selections for awhile.

I don't know what you could possibly do year round without getting all sorts of other critters.

The other issue to be forewarned of is that male foxes "mark" places where they find food. You don't want fox pee close to your house - trust me on this. It smells like skunk. After the foxes started marking my bird feeders, I sent my hubby out to counter-mark the terrritory. It worked on the bird feeders but the foxes have completely ignored hubby's scent on my morel patch and have decimated the mushrooms two years in a row.

[scuba0095]

one use to come up on my deck cause we had a tom cat that would leave for days so we would leave food out for him and sometimes the fox would come up and eat his food! AND once the cat came back only to find the fox eating his food! he was nOT to happy about that made a lot of noise and comotion, never saw the fox after that

[Beany]

Originally Posted by tp20uk

Similarly, for badgers too?

Peanut butter sandwiches are said to be good for attracting badgers.

[dylan]

David, try putting out an egg. It works a treat and is less hassle than breeding chickens

[David FG]

Why do you want to attract foxes? Most people I know are doing their best to get rid of them.

Badgers are another matter, of course.

[david2004]

Thans everyone. Some good advice.

David FG - why not? They're wild animals, and I happen to like wildlife. I do not consider them as vermin, as some others do.

[snowyowl]

Feeding foxes or other wild mammals is generally considered to be bad. The animals tend to become too dependent on humans as well as loosing their natural caution. That can lead to people being bitten or the animal becoming nuisances and having to be killed. We have foxes that haunt the roadside in the local national park looking for handouts and several of them have been run over as a result.
I have seen lots of problems of this type with foxes, bears even deer. Much as I love to watch them, I think it is better in the end to let them stay wild.

[david2004]

OK thanks Dan. It was just an idea anyway. Many people do feed foxes, though. And badgers.

[Anthony Morton]

Originally Posted by tp20uk

OK thanks Dan. It was just an idea anyway. Many people do feed foxes, though. And badgers.

Hi David,

If you own a dog, another reason for not attracting foxes is that they often carry sarcoptic mange.

Anthony

[Jos Stratford]

Originally Posted by tp20uk

David FG - why not? They're wild animals, and I happen to like wildlife. I do not consider them as vermin, as some others do.

Totally agree with you here, a horse decided to die on my land in November - don't know where it came from or why it chose my land to die on my land (!), but a horse is a fair size thing and I certainly didn't fancy trying to shift it. Instead was treated to fox sighting throughout the winter as they dug through the snow to knaw on the frozen carcase, usually accompanied by Ravens.

[david2004]

Thanks Anthony and Jos. Forgot they carried mange!