How do I stop foxes or raccoons digging up my lawn?

You can keep the lawn and keep liking the foxes. Animals dig for a reason, usually food, and the fix is to take that reason away, protect anything freshly dug or laid, and make the garden a little surprising at night. None of it needs to hurt them, and none of it uses poison or traps, so it sits easily with children and dogs.

Why they are digging

• Grubs in the lawn. Small, scattered holes or turf peeled back in patches often mean they are eating larvae under the grass. Lift a corner of damaged turf and look for fat, curled grubs.
• Fresh soil and new turf. Newly laid turf and dug beds are soft and smell of disturbed earth and the creatures in it. Raccoons are known for rolling back new turf to get underneath.
• Smelly fertilisers. Bone meal and fish, blood and bone draw foxes to beds and bulbs like a dinner bell.
• Easy food. Pet food, fallen bird seed, open compost and bins. Even food put out for hedgehogs can bring foxes in. Water is fine to leave out. Our answer on helping hedgehogs without attracting rats covers feeding that does not draw a crowd.

Foxes also dig and foul in pots, and young foxes play with anything soft, which is how cushions and gloves get shredded. That is play, not hunger. Bring soft things in at night.

The plan

1. No food left out. Feed pets indoors, use a seed tray under feeders, close the compost, and lock or strap bin lids.
2. Switch fertiliser. Use one without bone, blood or fish while they are visiting, and dig it in well.
3. Peg mesh over new turf and beds. Lay chicken wire or plastic garden mesh flat over new turf and peg it down firmly until the roots take hold, then lift it. For bulbs, lay mesh just under the soil surface so they cannot dig down.
4. Cover pots. A layer of coarse gravel or mesh over the soil stops digging and fouling.
5. Add a motion activated sprinkler. A sudden burst of water startles without hurting, and it is fine around children and dogs. Move it now and then so it stays a surprise. Motion lights can help as well.
6. Deal with lawn grubs if you found them. Biological controls using nematodes are an established option for common lawn grubs. Follow the pack on timing and watering. Once the grubs go, the digging usually eases.

If bending and pegging is hard on your knees, start with the sprinkler and the food. Those two are the least work and often make the biggest difference.

Things people try that do not hold up

Human urine around the edges. It is a popular tip for marking territory against foxes. There is no reliable evidence it keeps them off, and it has to be redone constantly.

Chilli, cayenne or pepper on beds. It washes off in the first rain, and it can get into the eyes and paws of foxes, cats and your own dog. Skip it.

Owl statues and plug-in gadgets. Like most scarecrows, they work for a night or two until the animal learns they never move. We do not recommend ultrasonic devices for any animal.

Kids and pets: pick up any droppings with gloves or a bag and wash hands after. Raccoon droppings in particular can carry parasites, so do not let children or dogs near them, and ask a doctor or vet if you are worried. Never use poison, glue or traps that injure: it is cruel, often illegal, and risky for your own pets.

When to get help

If foxes or raccoons have moved in, under a shed, deck or into the roof, that is a different job. See foxes have a den under my shed and getting animals out of the roof humanely. For anything aggressive, injured or behaving oddly in daylight, call a local wildlife rescue or animal control rather than going near it. Our garden visitors guide has more on living alongside them.