House in Stamford Hill, N16 

 

We were called to a house in Stamford Hill N16 due to foxes digging underneath the back conservatory.

A trail of rubbish, chicken bones, digging up of the lawn, fouling and debris was being created in a well manicured garden, not to mention the flea infestation brought into the house and the sleepness nights.

The children living in the property were to scared to venture out of their back door and play in the garden, fearing that the foxes would bite them.

We positioned our traps within the garden and removed 5 foxes.

Talc powder was placed around the entrance of the foxes den to monitor activity.

After the fifth fox was caught using cat food as bait, no further marks were made in the talc powder, indicating that the fox den was no longer being used.

A local builder was called in to back fill the burrow with concrete.

The builder said that if the foxes had been left, there may have been a possibility of subsidence happening due to the depth and angle the foxes were digging.

 

School in Hackney

 

During the summer of 2009, we were called in to a school in Hackney due to the health hazard being created by the local foxes and the risk of disease transmission by way of faeces all over the paths, play areas and door entrances.

 

Most of the children at the school were aged under 5, therefore the main risk was their hands going all over the floors, wall, areas where the foxes had been and inevitably ending up in their mouths or wiped over their faces.

 

The Site Manager was spending upto 2 hours each and every morning (sometimes longer on a Monday) trying to remove the fouling and disinfect the areas. Even though he tried his best to remove as much of the fouling as possible, he still could not guarantee that all had been removed.

We carried out a two week trapping cycle and managed to remove 13 foxes.

To date (Nov'09), there have been no further fox problems reported and the school has been given back 2 hours a day in man hours which equates to 10 hours a week!

The Site Manager can now get on with important tasks that are required to run a school.

It was very important to carry out this job. The risk of children picking up germs and parasitic worms was very high.

I am CRB (Enhanced) checked to work in educational establishments and with the co-operation of the school site manager, the traps were inspected by him every morning by 07.00Hrs and he called me immediately if a fox (es) were trapped so that I could make the school a priority call.

As with any dispatching, the Police are always notified of our intentions in order to prevent any mis-understandings.

 

 

 School in Rainham, Essex

 

We were called in to a School in Rainham, Essex at the start of 2009 due to fox activity on site creating damages under classrooms and digging up the gardens. Due to their presence, a clear health & safety risk was there.

Possibly, due to 'public opinion', the control treatment was put on hold as the School's management thought that the problem may go away.

Towards the end of 2009, the general fox activity around site had increased to and unacceptable level and some of the foxes were heavily infested with sarcopic mange and the fouling around the grounds was becoming a direct hazard to health.

The 'tipping point' came when a pupil was approached by one of the resident foxes which came up close to the pupil and swiped the pupils leg.

A direct complaint of concern was received by the School by the pupils parent.

We instructed to carry out a two week trapping cycle in order to help reduce the risks.