Brighton woman at the ‘end of her tether’ as foxes rip garden to shreds

Michelle Fox is at the end of her tether after a family of foxes settled down in her garden three months ago, because the little ones keep “ripping it to shreds”.

Mrs Fox sees the two adults and two cubs playing in her garden every day - and even caught one of them cheekily standing on her patio table.

The 53-year-old is so is fed up that the four crafty ginger critters have ripped up her flower beds and knocked over her pots, leaving mess all over.

Now she’s too afraid to let her little nephew play in the garden for fear the territorial animals might attack him.

The decorator said: “I’ve had foxes in the area for about 20 years but they’ve always been adults - this is the first time I’ve seen cubs in years and I’m at the end of my tether.

“The adults just lie around, but the cubs - although they are very cute and lovable - are ripping everything to shreds.”

Desperate for an answer to the problem, Michelle, from Brighton, posted about it in a local Facebook group but received some unhelpful advice.

She said: “People have said because my surname is Fox, the foxes won’t leave and have ‘come back home to mummy’.

“And one person said I would need to change my name or move house to stop them coming back and another said I had stolen their green space, which is ridiculous because I live five minutes from woodlands.

“The real reason they’re coming into gardens is because people leave their rubbish out or even worse are feeding them.

“The cubs are actually real cute but they are destroying my garden and I can’t go into and enjoy it anymore.

“They have destroyed it. The flower beds are being torn up, they’re digging under my fence, there’s barely any grass left in some spots and things keep going missing.

“There’s poo and wee everywhere so my 19-month-old great-nephew can’t play in the garden at the moment because he picks everything up.

“The RSPCA has been no help and although the Fox Project could help it would cost me about £300.”

A spokesman for The Fox Project advised Michelle to use non-toxic chemical mammal repellents to move the family along.

He said: “Thousands of people are referred to us every year by local authorities and most take the DIY option.

“Foxes are easily encouraged to move on and, in fact, they will move of their own volition from late July onwards as families disperse, as they must when cubs are around four and a half months of age.”