Fox & Cat Scarers

Hi Annette - welcome to GoY. If you look at the blog called 'Cats' from the 7th Oct you will find a lot of info which may help you with your problems. You can search for it in the box (top left). As for foxes, make sure that your garden is well-fenced first. I bought an animal repellent from B&Q which has helped - although I realise that it all depends on the size of your garden! If it's droppings that are bothering you, spray where they 'go'. Our dog is the best repellent, though! Good luck.

hi Annette, i have a fox deterrent, which is like a black and silver pole about 18" high and is quite effective. it is pretty hassle free, it just sticks into the lawn and does'nt harm any wild life, it has an inbuilt sensor which detects movement in your garden and lets off a high frequency sound which we can not hear at all but foxes find it most unplesant! but the batteries run out so often that it is not cheap to run. and as soon as they run out the foxes are back - they even tried to wreck it once, after the batteries run out luckly they did'nt succeed, it has pretty solid casing. i bought it on line for around £30 - i just typed in 'fox deterrent' on google and a whole list of them came up and loads of info to help you decide which one is best for your garden. but my advice would be to get one that only makes a high frequency sound as a fox comes into the garden instead of the ones that are constantly on, as this is less effective - they get used to the noise! also more batteries to run it! also you can get the sort that plug into an outside power supply - if poss i would go for this type as the batteries are a pain - and rechargable ones don't last 5 minutes in this thing! wish i had of gone for the mains one i do have an outside power suply but it was about a tenner cheaper so i thought i would save some money - wronge move! should have paid the extra tenner! lol good luck hope you manage to solve the problem.

Hi Annette

Not much of an answer for this time of the year, but I have several pots of Coleus Canina , Scardy Cat Plant, scattered around my garden, especially where that big black moggie comes in.

You will not be able to smell it unless you rub against the plant - and it stinks!

It has a lovely nearly lime green leaf with a lavender coloured and shaped flowerhead. It does not produce any seeds and I propogate mine from cuttings taken before the first frost. I also place the cuttings in a propogater in my little plastic greenhouse. It is a VERY tender plant and cuttings can be taken at almost any time during the growing season.

I got my original plants from a nursery near Epping or Enfield, but T&M also mail order them, but they have usually run out of stock by April

I've only just joined GoY, so once I have learned how to post a photo, I'll put one up of the site.

Failing that, dig a small hole where the cats deposit thier mess, place a blown up balloon in the hole and cover. The cats will come along, dig in thier favourite spot, explode the balloon, leave a massive deposit and leave never to return!

Ken