The Fox

We have a fox. There has always been a fox trail along the edge of our garden. And from time to time we would see a fox run across the lawn and disappear through the top hedge. We co-existed peacefully, until recently. One night the fox came into the back yard and raided the cat food that is kept in the greenhouse. Both of our semi-feral cats sleep in the back yard. We worried that they might become a convenient meal for a hungry fox. They are wily hunters. So how could we deter the fox?  

The first thing we tried was voices. Humans are the main predator of foxes, after all. So we hung a small transistor radio in the greenhouse. It was tuned to Radio 4, which becomes the World Service overnight. The internet was confident that talk radio would put the fox off.

But the next night, the fox raided the greenhouse again. There was no cat food stored there anymore, and just a few scraps in the cat bowls. The fox managed to turn them over. And our two cats were in hiding. What should we do now? Would we have been better turning to some easy listening station? Were foxes attuned to current affairs and more deterred by the dulcet tones of Barry Manilow? Indeed, might the lack of easy pickings make the fox keener for a meal of cat?

We consulted the internet again. The next night we put the yard light on at dusk and left it on all night. We also continued with the transistor on Radio 4. And lo and behold the fox did not come and raid. The combination of the night light and the shipping forecast was too much for it. A good friend told me that foxes are opportunistic hunters. They are always on the lookout for an easy meal. So if you make it hard for them, they will go and try somewhere else.