Peeing into a bucket can stop foxes entering your garden (Image: Getty)
As far as garden maintenance tips go, it’s one for the truly committed.
But some swear by this rather outrageous method to shield their garden from foxes in the winter – urinating into a bucket and throwing it around your garden.
For who have tried everything else, from scatter granules to fox netting, scarers and various chemical repellents, there is one more drastic step you can take to try to turn foxes away.
are generally harmless animals to visit your garden; they don’t carry diseases in the UK and they can’t really hurt any other wildlife in your garden (unless you keep chickens!), but they can sometimes dig up planted beds, create holes in lawns and scatter rubbish across your garden and be a bit of a nuisance if they’re coming to your garden night after night.
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One distressed told Time Out: “‘A fox has destroyed my back garden. It’s ripped up my lawn, dug up my raised beds, eaten my vegetables and s*** everywhere. I have a cat, so I don’t want to install a deterrent that might scare him. And actually, I totally love foxes. Google advised that I wee all over the garden.”
For those who want to keep foxes out, there is an urban myth which has been tested by many a gardener – but it only works for men, because of the chemicals in the liquid.
Weeing in a bucket, or around your garden, works because foxes use scent to mark their territory, and will mark your garden with their own scent in order to claim your space for themselves against rival vulpines.
Tony Wileman, from the London Wildlife Trust, told the gardener: “Foxes are hard to deter, and using a company to relocate them is pointless – your garden will likely attract a new one.
“I’m afraid the wee rumour is true, though. The strong scent from human male urine (and only male urine) masks a male fox’s pungent scent, and can often force them out. But you can buy urea-based products that do the same job (and won’t upset your cat). The best can be expensive, so ask at a garden centre, or seek advice from the National Fox Welfare Society.”
If you don’t have the stomach for weeing next to your own asparagus, there are some products on the market which promise to carry out a similar role.
experts LawnTech said: “Like many animals, foxes are susceptible to territorial scent-marking. There are various products on the market which replicate the scent of a dominant male fox, usually sold as a powder which can be dissolved and either sprayed or sprinkled using a watering can. ‘Marking your boundaries’ like this will scare off any intruder foxes, though effects will wear off over time (particularly in times of bad weather) so repeated applications may be necessary before the would-be intruders get the message.”