Los Gatos fox keeps leaving stinking deposits on a resident’s front porch
DEAR JOAN >> Eight weeks ago, we saw a gray fox in our yard. Even though we haven’t seen it again, for more than a week it has gone to a lot of effort to leave scat 3 feet from our front door every night.
We have lived in the foothills for 45-plus years, and this is a first. We tried a motion detector light but still found scat.
The first fox sighting was a mom and two kits. We like the now-invisible fox, but not the daily scat duty. Any suggestions?
— Shirley Cantu,
Los Gatos
DEAR SHIRLEY >> Foxes mark their territory with scat and urine. Unlike some animals that try to hide their poo to avoid being tracked by predators, foxes leave their poop in highly visible areas, sending the news that this territory has been claimed and encroachers will be dealt with severely. You keep removing its “stay away” sign, so it has to keep putting up a new one every night. Imagine its confusion.
By marking your home and yard as its territory, the fox is keeping other animals away. The fox also might be helping keep your rodent population in check, which is another bonus in a world where bonuses are hard to find.
You need to do a careful inspection of your yard and look for reasons why, after more than 45 years of not being a fox hot spot, you’ve suddenly become one. Look for places under decks, beneath buildings or behind a wood pile where a fox might have set up a den. Also look for things foxes find appealing in a home, such as access to food and water.
Seal up places where a fox might be hanging out, after making sure no living creature is still inside, and remove fox amenities.
You can fight stinky poo with stinky deterrents. Boil garlic and hot peppers together, then spray or paint the liquid on your front porch. You’ll also find some commercial deterrents on the market, including predator urine. Look for synthetic types as the real stuff might have been collected under cruel conditions.
You also can purchase a “predator light,” which is a device that mimics the glowing red eyes of a predator. Foxes have a natural fear of humans, so tuning a radio to an all-night talk show and setting it on the porch might convince the fox that people are around. Keep the volume low as you don’t want to annoy your neighbors.
DEAR JOAN >> Could you settle an argument that my wife and I have every Thanksgiving? I want to feed our dogs some of the turkey. Not the bones, just some of the meat. She says it’s not good for them. I say it’s fine.
— Steve R., San Jose
DEAR STEVE >> I don’t like to get in the middle of a family argument, but your wife has a good reason to be concerned. Turkey is not harmful to our pets, but it can become so, depending on how it was prepared.
A highly seasoned turkey can cause stomach upset, and if you stuffed your turkey, any meat that has been in contact with onions in the stuffing can be fatal to dogs.
If you insist on sharing your Thanksgiving bounty, let peace rule the day by cooking a small portion of plain turkey separately and serving them small portions of that. Everybody leaves happy.