Foxes are generally harder to deal with than other pests. As foxes are fast, have claws and sharp teeth, are larger than most pests and are much more clever and sly, it’s difficult to deal with them. Even if your fences are high enough and there aren’t any gaps, still, a fox manages to make its way into your yard. So, can foxes climb fences or not?
Yes, foxes can climb fences. Unfortunately, with their long, strong legs and sharp claws, foxes can easily climb your fences and enter your garden.
A fox’s strong legs and sharp claws help it climb trees, walls, and fences quite easily. They’re very acrobatic animals, and it can be a hectic task to ward off a fox from your yard.
Many types of foxes can effortlessly reach 3 feet high through their jumps and even climb to 6 feet. Walls or very high fences may seem helpful with warding off most rodents and other critters, but for a hungry fox who wants to check your trash cans for food, walls or fences wouldn’t help much.
Can Foxes Jump?
Foxes are amazing acrobats and are good climbers and jumpers. They can easily jump over a standard 3 foot fence, so many people create 6 foot fences using nettings and electric wiring.
Still, foxes manage to get in your yard as they are good at jumping and are also amazing diggers and may dig beneath the fence just because they’re hungry and they want to check out your lot for any food.
Foxes are faster than cats and dogs and are very agile. If there’s a tree nearby your yard that hovers over the fence, a fox may even climb that to enter your yard. Foxes have sharp semi-retractable claws that they use to reach high surfaces and climb up surfaces where their jumps can’t reach.
Their average jumping height is three feet, but they can boost it by climbing up to six feet and more.
Hopping and jumping are not only used to climb over your fence, but the natural hunting method for foxes involves jumping and hopping. Jumping on top of prey is one of their strategies for killing their prey.
This method of hunting is very effective and is seen in many types of foxes, especially red foxes and arctic foxes.
How High Can Foxes Jump?
Foxes have exceptionally strong legs, which helps them jump high surfaces with ease. The muscular legs help them push from the ground and launch to wherever they want. Their flexible ankles help them easily land from high jumps in angular positions.
These excellent jumping skills and strong legs help foxes run and hide from predators and also are immensely helpful in killing prey.
Foxes can jump up to 3 feet and climb to 6 feet using their strong legs. This jump height is a little shorter compared to a cat which can jump to six times its height depending on the breed and age, and an average dog can jump to about six feet.
Foxes can jump for many different reasons. Sometimes they can be happy and will jump in excitement, and when they’re playing, usually, kits jump when excited, but red fox adults are seen to jump when they’re excited as well.
Foxes jump to hide from predators. If a predator is close by, a fox may jump and climb up a tree or any high surface to hide. Jumping also helps in hunting, and a fox’s favourite strategy to hunt is to pounce on its prey.
Foxes tend to jump to minimize their travel and use hopping or jumping as a shortcut to quickly go from one place to another without much effort. Foxes feel like it’s easier and faster to leap over or jump over obstacles during their travels.
It saves time and is quicker as compared to going around the obstacle or climbing over it.
It’s very common to see a fox skipping and hopping across streams and river banks rather than going around them or changing routes, as jumping reduces distance quickly at a much faster rate.
The hunting method of foxes that involves tracking prey and then pouncing on it from a high height is so common and so often used that scientists have named the method: Mousing. This method has especially been seen a lot by arctic foxes as they jump very high and dive into the snow.
They dive headfirst into the snow and find rodents to eat that is hiding underneath. Snow is soft, so this is an easy way of hunting for arctic foxes.
Foxes get hungry a lot, and they like to find and store food more than they can eat so they can use it later. If a fox hasn’t found the required food it aimed to collect when it left its den, it will scavenge in places it normally doesn’t visit.
Such a place is your yard, and a fox may try to jump over your face and even climb it if it’s too high enough so that it can get access to the leftover food in your trash or look for any rats or eggs if you have a chicken coop.
Can Foxes Climb Trees?
Foxes can easily climb a tree with no effort, thanks to strong hind legs and sharp semi-retractable claws. Foxes like to eat birds and eat eggs from their nests, so they often climb up trees where there are a lot of birds. Trees are also a very good place to hide from predators.
Summary
Foxes are agile animals that run fast, effortlessly climb high places and jump to cover distances. Jumping not only helps in covering long distances, but it also helps them in hunting, hiding from predators, and entering your yard by jumping and climbing over your fence.
A fox jumps to about 3 feet and can reach 6 feet by climbing. High surfaces like trees are another good place to hide from predators, but foxes also climb trees to look for more food like birds and eggs.
