[caroline or]

Morning all ..We have  a fox in the garden who has been very noisey all weekend in the evening and morning as late as 8.00am!
My girls are always out in the garden (which is 2 acres) running around when we are home.
Since the weekend I have not let them out..they have a massive run with all the things they need and lots of things for their entertainment!! So why do I feel so bad that they have to stay in? and when do I think if ever it will be ok to let them roam again?? It is making me feel a bit low in my self!! Silly I know

[grumpydad]

you may want to let them out, but how would you feel if you let them out and the fox had them. worse i would suspect. keep them safe, they will be ok.

[RichardA]

We have a fox lives in the garden and we have 6 ducks. Footprints in the winter snows show the fox went upto but never entered the 6 foot fenced off enclosure. We also now have fox repellent ultrasonic devices but I guess we will never know if they work until they dont work.
Your first responsibility is to preserve life and second is the quality of that life so I think you are doing very well already. Feeling a bit bad about it is not helping when in reality you are protecting them and giving them a good life already.
As for when you can let them out again -- who will ever know. Perhaps you should only let one or two out at a time and only then when you are around. Do you have a dog??
You will just have to make a good judgement call -- can you set up any muddy patches and look for tracks or put newspaper over holes and fox trails to see if the fox is still about.
Sounds as if you have done all you can
R

[ehs284]

We have foxes and follow the advice above. If people are not around then they stay inside the fence. I don't know much about foxes, but here they are about well into the morning, but seem offer no threat in daylight. The danger is at night. A neighbour, who has never had problems when following the same precautions, left the birds out one night. First and last time; now he's no birds. You're being wise.