What can individuals do to remove unwanted foxes?
If deterrence and prevention do not solve or improve your particular problem there are a number of ways in which residents can remove foxes from their property. In addition to being humane, any control method must have regard to the law, practicality, effectiveness and safety. The following illustrate those methods which are and which are not currently acceptable:
- Gassing is illegal, since no products have been approved under the 1947 Agricultural Act or the Control of Pesticides Regulations 1986. In any case, harbourages are often under sheds, outhouses or other buildings and pose practical and safety questions.
- Laying poison bait for foxes is also illegal by virtue of the Protection of Animals Act 1911.
- Free running snares are legal, but must be inspected at least once per 24 hours (Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981). Self locking snares are illegal for fox control purposes. Snares generally encounter considerable opposition from the public as they do cause unnecessary suffering and non target groups, such as cats or dogs may become ensnared.
- Shooting is legal, but site restrictions very often limit the usefulness of this method.
- Spring traps are illegal. However, cage traps do not breach current legislation but may create a neighbourhood disturbance from screams of distress when the animal is caught until it is collected.
The fox's reputation for cunning is well founded and it is not easily trapped. Naturally cautious, the fox will evade capture for some time, perhaps weeks, and when it is eventually captured it will serve as an example to the remainder of its pack and subsequent captures will be very unlikely.
From experience, traps which are openly visible to the general public are often vandalised or stolen by people who do not agree with control of foxes. Finally, the captured fox must then either be humanely dispatched or released into an area which is more suitable. Again, cats and dogs may be caught and distressed by mistake.
Trapping of foxes and "returning" them to the wild is often viewed as a humane method of reducing the fox population. In reality, this option is the least practical, as trapping is far from straightforward and release into the wild may well be illegal because of the distress caused to the animal (Abandonment of Animals Act 195). Life expectancies of transferred foxes are substantially reduced as they are susceptible to rural danger and may transfer disease to the resident fox population. In any case, this option does not take into account the ability of the site to cope with an influx of urban foxes and really only shifts the problem onto someone who may not be in any better position to deal with it.
In conclusion, fox control is expensive and time consuming - culling is the only effective method, and that is only successful in the short term.
If you would like any further information please contact us on 01329 236100 or e-mail regulatory@fareham.gov.uk.
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