Fox or cat poo on our (fake) lawn?

[rumtumtugger]

We have just moved house and have inherited a fake lawn. Every few days I find some poo on it - not sure if it's cats or foxes. What can I do to deter them from using our garden as a toilet? Something that doesn't affect the fake lawn?

[mummylin2495]

I'm not sure what you can do .id poo is blackish it's usually a fox, so you probably won't see it if it only comes at night, if its cats get a water gun and spray it , it should soon get the message

[mummylin2495]

Id = fox !

[bunchoffives]

If it's fox you will know! It absolutely reeks! Really foul. Cat is bad, fox there is no mistaking.

To deter cats you could try pepper, it's supposed to put them off. Also garden centre's sell stuff.

[EauRouge]

Fox poo stinks to high heaven. How big is the poo? My lawn's always covered in hedgehog poo, I don't mind that though! Some of it is quite big, we have massive mutant hedgehogs around here.

[Periwinkle007]

we have foxes, hedgehogs and cats from our neighbours.

pepper does seem to work, as does that stay off spray you can buy quite cheaply although if it rains heavily you will have to respray it. sonic things can deter them but sometimes they ignore it, jet wash from the hose often works best but I will only do it if it is warm as whilst I personally dislike cats I don't want to be responsible for a chilly moggy. most of our problem is cats in the flowerbeds so I often put holly leaves on the soil which they then won't walk on.

[rumtumtugger]

Well it was blackish brown and about 3-4 ins long? Quite a spongy texture from what I recall when picking it up! I hadnt considered hedgehogs, do you think it was them? i hadnt noticed a particularly pungent smell. I'm pregnant so would rather not be picking it up but when dd wants to play outside...

[Hassled]

If you're pregnant you shouldn't be picking it up at all - toxoplasmosis info here. Who else can do it?

Fox poo is blacker than cat poo, and a bit larger in diameter and length.

[Periwinkle007]

hedgehog poo is smaller.

Hassled is right you shouldn't be picking it up. I always do it through double nappy sacks inside out so as to avoid any contact whatsoever and I have been known (slight germ freak) to spray antibacterial spray where it has been or pull up all the grass around it (we have normal grass)

[WherewasHonahLee]

Fox poo has a little sort of twist at the end.

[flow4]

If you didn't notice a particularly bad smell, it wasn't fox poo!

If you live near me, I'll lend you my dog, who has an infallible fox-poo identification method: she rolls in it!

[loraflora]

Oh, you will definitely know when you smell fox poo - it's incredibly pungent and lingering and can't be mistaken for anything else. .

[ComeIntoTheGardenMaud]

I have had some success deterring foxes from coming into my garden by putting mothballs by the fence, although (of course) this won't help if this isn't a fox!

[davejohn123]

I had the same problem for a few months. I tried an electronic cat scarer which sometimes worked but not always. One of the problems with it was that the elderly can't detect the frequency, so unless you can find a passing child you don't know if its operating properly! Anyway I have since found a method that has been totally successful for the last 3 or so months (I am touching wood as I type this!). My wife came home with the shopping from Tesco which included 2 large bottles of water (clear plastic). Having read that it might work I simply took one and laid it in the middle of the lawn. Hey presto! I simply move it daily to prevent indentation. Incidentally my lawn is about 7 metres square.