Foxes will visit your garden whenever they’re hungry and haven’t had enough food to eat. Ultimately, they’re scavengers. Some might even say vermin! But is there anything you can do to stop them? Spices, especially chilli, are often used to deter pests. So, does chilli powder deter foxes too?
Yes, chilli powder can deter foxes. Using ingredients like chilli powder, black pepper, and garlic can easily deter foxes as they hate the smell.
There are certain things foxes don’t like, and they will avoid going to such a place where any of the things they hate are present. Foxes have noses that can smell anything from afar, and their sense of smell is far stronger than a human’s.
You can easily take this ability of theirs and use it as an advantage by placing items that have smells they truly despise. Chilli powder is one such item that foxes cannot stand.
An easy solution is to mix chilli powder with water and mix it in. After mixing, spray the concoction in areas of your garden where you don’t want a fox to be, and you can also spray it in places where a fox can enter your garden from.
Remember to Reapply
As with any garden sprays you use to deter pests, you’ll need to keep reapplying the spray to ensure it remains effective. The weather will either wash away the spray or dry it out fairly quickly rendering it useless.
What Other Spices Keep Foxes Away?
Fortunately, chilli powder is not the only spice that can help to keep foxes away. Ultimately, you can reach into your spice cupboard and grab any spice that’s likely to play havoc with a fox’s sense of smell.
Mustard Seeds
As you probably already know, mustard can be quite fiery. If you grind out mustard seeds, you’ll release their oils which have that punchy flavour. You can then sprinkle this around your garden to deter foxes.
Remember that the oils will dissipate fairly quickly so you’ll need to keep reapplying it if you discover that it works for the fox you’re dealing with.
Paprika
If you have hot paprika in your cupboard then this can also work well when trying to deter foxes. It’s worth remembering that sweet paprika is likely to be too mild to use in the garden.
If you have hot paprika, you can either sprinkle it on the ground close to where foxes tend to visit. Or, you can make a spray by combining paprika with either water or vinegar. You can then spray this where you want to stop foxes from visiting.
Garlic
Garlic is another edible that a fox might avoid going near. Though garlic is known to be 100% effective when it comes to keeping foxes away (but nothing will be 100% effective), it’s still worth giving a try as it will also deter other pests.
You simply need to cut and boil some garlic, so its essence is extracted, and a chemical compound called alliinase is released. Alliinase is a chemical compound that only comes out of garlic when you crush it. Alliinase has a very strong scent.
You can then combine this boiled water and garlic mixture into a spray bottle which is then sprayed in problem areas of your garden. Be warned, however, that it will make your garden stink of garlic.
Black peppers have a spicy, peppery scent which can deter foxes from your garden. You’ll need to use ground black peppercorns as it’s grinding the peppercorns that release the pungent smell. These can then be sprinkled around your garden.
Black pepper is a little more peppery which means it will work to deter foxes a little better but you can also try to use white pepper to deter foxes if this is all you have.
Remember, you can also combine these spices into one mix to create a punchy anti-fox spice mix that can be sprinkled across your garden.
Summary
Foxes can be nuisances in the garden, and it can be tough to keep a fox away from your property. Luckily there are several ways you can be fox free. Using spices such as chilli powder or garlic can be excellent options for your fox repellent.
It is, however, worth considering whether or not the fox is dangerous? If they’re not causing you much pain and they’re not creating much damage then why not just leave them be? Foxes are just a member of nature and all they’re doing is trying to get some food.
Anna is a keen organic gardener, avoiding any forms of chemicals when growing both flowers and vegetables meaning she has extensive knowledge on how to deal with pests naturally
Hi,
I have foxes digging deep holes in my garden soil here in north London. I would be grateful if you could tell me the quantities of chille and garlic powder to use per litre of water to spray on the soil. I have tried a Pestbye cat scarer but this has had no effect. I am also going to fit a number of LED Solar Security Lights at a low level in the hope that when they are activated the bright lights will deter them!
Many thanks.
Peter.