Despite their adorable appearance and behaviour, they’re among one of the most annoying pests for your garden. Fortunately, there are specific smells that can make foxes avoid coming to your yard, so is bleach one of those smells as well? Does bleach deter foxes? And should you use it?
Yes, bleach can deter foxes. However, it is not a humane method to use and there are plenty of other ways to safely deter foxes from your garden.
Bleach is indeed one of the ways you can deter or get rid of a fox, but it’s not a humane way to do so. Bleach can also be dangerous for other animals and pets in your garden that you’ll like to very much keep around.
Why You Should Not Use Bleach in the Garden?
Bleach is harmful in the garden as it will destroy any kind of vegetation, plants, fruits, and flowers, and the soil PH will be affected for a long time, so you won’t even be able to grow anything else there for a long time.
Two types of household bleach are chlorine bleach and oxygenated bleach, which is also called oxy beach. Oxy bleach is not caustic and may not harm plants. Chlorine bleach, however, is caustic and can greatly harm plants and soil.
It’s dangerous for your pets, too, or if you have a chicken coop in your yard, then they can be in danger too because of chlorine toxicity in the garden.
It’s best to avoid bleach in general when trying to ward off foxes from your property and use other methods which won’t have any negative effects on other plants and pets and are considered to be humane and legal.
What Other Smells Keep Foxes Away?
If you want foxes to avoid visiting your property, there are better options than using bleach, as bleach may get the job done, but it will certainly damage your garden, more than any fox ever could.
Foxes have heightened senses including their vision, hearing, but especially their highly powerful sense of smell. You can take advantage of this as there are several smells that a fox absolutely hates and will always avoid visiting such a place where such a smell is coming from.
So, instead of using bleach, consider try these out:
Hot Pepper
Capsaicin is the main ingredient found in hot peppers, which foxes hate to be near. This ingredient is also why hot peppers get their hot and spicy taste.
The burning sensation you feel after eating a hot pepper is also the result of capsaicin. This is the same for animals, and it affects them even more due to their heightened sense of smell and taste.
Chilli peppers can easily overwhelm the nose of a fox on your lawn. Chilli peppers are non-lethal, so a fox may run off from the smell and taste and won’t die.
You can mix chilli or cayenne powder with water and spray on the areas where a fox enters your yard from. This way, your yard will be fox free.
White Vinegar
Foxes hate the smell of white vinegar as well. White vinegar is commonly used for cooking, cleaning, baking, and washing, but white vinegar is a useful pest control as well.
Acetic acid is something that is present a lot in white vinegar, and it smells and tastes bad. It has a very strong smell. It’s recommended to be used around your property by spraying it.
You can even mix it with chilli pepper to make an abomination of a smell, but as worst as it sounds, it’s not actually too effective mixing it with anything else that is equally smelly. Just use white vinegar and reapply to get lasting effects and longer protection against pests like foxes.
Other Ways to Prevent Foxes from Coming to Your Garden
Smells aren’t the only method to keep away a fox from entering your property. There are several other methods that are just as useful.
Foxes are scavengers and will often come to your garden for food. They’ll look for food scraps in your garbage. Having thick garbage bags in solid dustbins is a great way to deter foxes in the first place.
Foxes like untidy and overgrown gardens and yards as they give shelter to foxes. If your garden and yard are clean and aren’t overgrown or dirty, then it won’t attract a fox.
Summary
Foxes can be a menace to your yard and garden and can be a danger if you have defenceless pets. There are several ways for keeping away foxes from entering your lots, such as using garlic, white vinegar, and chilli pepper smells.
As foxes have a highly powerful sense of smell, these smelly items can immediately cause them to turn away from your lot. Using bleach, however, is not recommended as it’s not humane or moral and can harm your yard.
