Spec me fox proofing for decking

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We moved into our place just short of 2 months ago and are now getting round to sorting the garden a bit.

There's some raised decking at the back of the garden with a shed on it. It's an ideal sunspot which is great for being in the garden (when we can get hold of some garden furniture) but unfortunately underneath the decking is also an ideal den / hiding place for a local fox. There were already holes dug when we arrived, which I have actively blocked up with random things from the garden but I'll often wake up to a new hole or destruction of whatever was used to block it up.

I would consider tolerating a fox living there if it wasn't for the fact it ****s all over the garden. If we were living where I grew up in more rural areas, I would've likely shot the fox by now but apparently the local residents seem to be fox friendly. Our neighbour admitted they have fed the fox on occaision.

The next step I see is to prevent the fox from digging underneath. The soil is pretty soft in that area of the garden so the little murder machine makes short work of digging a hole. My uneducated plan would be to dig a trench close to the side of the decking and fill it will medium/large stones (like slate rubble) make it difficult to dig. If it was done neatly, it'll also be a nicer edge to the decking that just soil.

Pics of the area and my failing attempts to block the holes with random things:

https://imgur.com/a/AOKp7mP

TL;DR: What can I do to prevent a fox digging under my decking?
 
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Embrace or deter.

Is there such a thing as a a noise deterrent for foxes like you can get for cats? Might be worth a punt.

Get a dog maybe?

Blocking access can be hard as Foxes are nimble, but worth looking at redoing the perimeter and ensuring they can't dig under fences by burying deep gravel boards.
 
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Embrace or deter.

Is there such a thing as a a noise deterrent for foxes like you can get for cats? Might be worth a punt.

Get a dog maybe?

Blocking access can be hard as Foxes are nimble, but worth looking at redoing the perimeter and ensuring they can't dig under fences by burying deep gravel boards.
Looked into those high frequency noise things, seems my wife can actually hear it too so not ideal!

Dog is on the cards but not yet. We want to get one after our working from home situation ends (so the dog doesn't grow up expecting us to be around all day)

Could just get some gravel boards and dig them in. Same as the rocks idea i guess
 
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Looked into those high frequency noise things, seems my wife can actually hear it too so not ideal!

Dog is on the cards but not yet. We want to get one after our working from home situation ends (so the dog doesn't grow up expecting us to be around all day)

Could just get some gravel boards and dig them in. Same as the rocks idea i guess

Did you look at these?

https://foxrepellentexpert.com/foxwatch/

Motion activated and highly directional, so your wife is unlikely to be affected.

We had 2 facing the points of access for our back garden (neighbours had accident fencing and a shed with a den under it) and they worked very well. Took the local fox population a week or two to get the idea that out garden wasn’t their playground anymore.

Our cat wasn’t troubled by them at all.

I recommend the AC adaptors for them as they do burn through 9v batteries in 6-8 weeks in a busy garden.
 
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Thanks, I'll check them out. Another freshly dug hole today. I think I'll end up securing the decking edge with rocks or gravel boards and also get the high frequency devices.
 
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Did you look at these?

https://foxrepellentexpert.com/foxwatch/

Motion activated and highly directional, so your wife is unlikely to be affected.

We had 2 facing the points of access for our back garden (neighbours had accident fencing and a shed with a den under it) and they worked very well. Took the local fox population a week or two to get the idea that out garden wasn’t their playground anymore.

Our cat wasn’t troubled by them at all.

I recommend the AC adaptors for them as they do burn through 9v batteries in 6-8 weeks in a busy garden.

Just had a look and seems these ones are higher frequency that normal cat ones so even less likely to be able to be heard by people :thumbsup:

I'll give them a go
 
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Do you have security lighting in the garden. The PIR/motion sensing type. I would have thought that'd probably scare a fox off.
 
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