Why Foxes Are Moving Into Inner Melbourne, and What Homeowners Can Do
Suggested meta description: Foxes are now common in inner Melbourne suburbs. Learn why they are moving in, the signs one is visiting your property, and practical steps to keep them out.
It’s just after dusk in Northcote. A slim, rust-coloured animal with a white-tipped tail trots along the footpath, slips under a side gate and disappears. By morning, the backyard chook pen two doors down is empty.
For a lot of people, foxes still feel like a country problem, something farmers worry about at lambing time. But red foxes have been living in Melbourne’s suburbs for decades, and these days they’re as much a part of inner-city nightlife as possums and flying foxes. If you’ve noticed holes dug under your fence, a bin torn open overnight or a strange musky smell near the shed, there’s a good chance a fox has been through.
Here’s why foxes are thriving so close to the CBD, the problems they cause, and the practical steps you can take to keep them off your property.
Are There Really Foxes in Inner Melbourne?
Yes, and probably more than you’d expect. Foxes are regularly spotted in suburbs such as Kew, Hawthorn, Richmond, Brunswick, Coburg, Footscray and Yarraville, especially near the Yarra River, Merri Creek, Moonee Ponds Creek and the Maribyrnong River. Studies of Melbourne’s urban foxes have found they can live at higher densities in the suburbs than in many rural areas.
Because foxes are mostly active between dusk and dawn, many residents share their street with them for years without ever seeing one. The clues are usually in what they leave behind.
Why Foxes Are Moving Into the CityFood is everywhere
Foxes are opportunistic and will eat almost anything. In the suburbs that means rats and mice, insects, fallen fruit, compost, scraps from bins, pet food left on the back step and, given half a chance, backyard chickens, ducks and rabbits. A single suburban street can offer a more reliable food supply than a paddock in the country.
Shelter is easy to find
In the bush, a fox has to dig its own den. In the city, it rarely needs to. The space under a deck, a garden shed or a house on stumps, a stack of building materials, an overgrown vacant block or a quiet corner of a building site all make good den sites. They’re dry, hidden and close to food.
Green corridors work like highways
Creek trails, rail reserves, golf courses and linear parks run deep into the inner suburbs. They give foxes cover to travel from larger open spaces straight into residential streets without having to cross much open ground.
There are few threats
Foxes have no natural predators in Melbourne’s suburbs, and the control methods used on farms, such as baiting and shooting, aren’t practical or safe in built-up areas. With food so plentiful, urban foxes can get by on smaller territories, which means more foxes can live in the same area.
City-born foxes stay city foxes
Cubs born under a deck in spring grow up used to traffic, people, dogs and streetlights. When young foxes leave home in autumn to find their own territory, they tend to settle nearby, so the urban population keeps topping itself up.
Why Urban Foxes Are a Problem
- Pets and poultry. Chickens, ducks, guinea pigs and rabbits are easy targets. Foxes often kill more than they can eat in one go, which is why a single visit to a chook pen can be so devastating.
- Native wildlife. Foxes have played a major part in the decline of many small native animals across Australia. In the suburbs they prey on lizards, ground-nesting birds and young possums.
- Mess and damage. Expect digging under fences and in garden beds, bins dragged around, droppings on paths and outdoor furniture, and a strong smell around den sites.
- Health risks for pets. Foxes can carry mange and parasites that can be passed on to dogs. Keep pets away from fox droppings and den areas.
The red fox is also a declared established pest animal in Victoria under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. That means landowners are expected to take reasonable steps to control foxes on their land, and a captured fox can’t simply be released somewhere else.
Signs a Fox Is Visiting Your Property
- A strong, musky smell around the shed, deck or garden beds
- Droppings left in obvious places, such as on paths, lawns or outdoor furniture, often twisted and containing fur, feathers or seeds
- Holes dug under fences, gates or sheds, and shallow scrapes in lawns and garden beds
- Bins knocked over and rubbish dragged across the yard
- Shoes, gloves or dog toys going missing from outside
- Feathers scattered around a chook pen, or poultry gone missing overnight
- Loud screams or barks at night, especially during the winter breeding season
What Homeowners Can Do1. Take away the food
Use bins with tight-fitting lids, and don’t put meat or bones in open compost. Feed pets inside or pick up bowls straight after meals. Collect fallen fruit, and clean up around bird feeders and chook pens where spilled grain attracts rats and mice, which in turn attract foxes.
- Lock up pets and poultry at night
A chook pen or rabbit hutch needs to be fully enclosed, including the roof. Use strong welded mesh rather than standard chicken wire, which foxes can tear through. Stop digging by burying the mesh at least 30 cm into the ground, or by laying a mesh skirt flat along the ground around the outside. Most importantly, lock animals in before dusk, every night.
- Close off den sites
Block access under decks, sheds and raised floors with sturdy mesh that’s fixed firmly and dug into the ground. Before you seal anything, make sure no fox is inside. Cubs are usually in the den from late winter through spring, and sealing them in is both cruel and likely to create a much bigger problem. If you suspect an active den, get professional advice first.
- Fix weak points in your fence
Foxes are good diggers and surprisingly capable climbers. Walk your fence line and look for gaps under gates, dips where soil has washed away, loose palings and spots where a bin or compost bay makes an easy step up. A buried mesh apron or concrete plinth along the base stops digging, and closing the gap under gates is often the quickest win. If you’re replacing an old fence anyway, ask your fencing contractor about adding a dig-proof footing at the same time.
- Use deterrents, but don’t rely on them
Motion-activated lights and sprinklers can make your yard less inviting. Foxes are clever, though, and they usually get used to deterrents within a few weeks. Treat them as a short-term helper, not a long-term fix.
- Talk to your neighbours
A fox’s territory covers many backyards. If you secure your yard but the house next door has an open compost heap and a den under the deck, the fox will keep coming back. Fox control works far better when the whole street is on board.
When to Call in a Professional
Prevention goes a long way, but sometimes it isn’t enough. It’s time to get expert help if a fox has set up a den on your property, if you keep losing pets or poultry, or if a fox keeps returning no matter what you change.
If a fox has made itself at home or keeps coming back despite your best efforts, professional fox trapping in Melbourne is the most effective and humane way to deal with it, especially when it’s combined with proofing your property so the next fox can’t move straight in.
Trapping isn’t a DIY job. The use of traps is regulated in Victoria, a captured fox has to be handled and dealt with humanely and lawfully, and a cornered fox can injure people and pets. A licensed pest controller will know the rules, pick the right method and time for your situation, and check for cubs before acting.
Removal and prevention also need to go together. Take away one fox without fixing the gaps, food and shelter that drew it in, and another will usually take its place within weeks.
Living Alongside Melbourne’s Foxes
Foxes are here to stay in inner Melbourne, but your backyard doesn’t have to be part of their territory. Remove easy food, lock pets and poultry away at night, block off den sites, and fix the weak spots in your fence. When a fox has already moved in, bring in a professional to deal with it properly.
