Cartoon: John Sadler

• IN response to Dr Martin Rosendaal who is unhappy with the fox population of Camden (Outfox the foxes, September 21), there are much easier and more efficient ways of dealing with any perceived fox problems than his idea of crowd-funding to fund pest control.

I am a local fox rescuer with my Mama Cat Trust which, despite the name, deals with more foxes than cats therefore I have a lot of experience in this area. Quite apart from the cruelty aspect, pest control is nothing but an expensive confidence trick.

Pest controllers fail to tell you that removal or destruction of foxes is completely futile as foxes are self-regulating and no sooner is one fox removed than another one takes over the vacated territory within weeks, sometimes days.

These facts render pest control totally useless. There is no profit in telling the truth though!

Foxes have never been classified as vermin, therefore local authorities are under no obligation to act against them. Nor should they. Humane fox deterrence is the sensible way to go and provides excellent results.

The idea is to make your garden inhospitable to foxes and this can be achieved in a number of ways. The best proprietary repellents are Scoot and Get Off My Garden both readily available from garden centres and online.

There is also a very effective motion-activated water driven gadget called Scarecrow. It is also worth bearing in mind that at this time of year, cubs born in spring will start to disperse so there will be fewer in one place.

Dr Rosendaal previously mentioned mange. Unfortunately mange is a miserable condition for foxes and causes them to suffer a great deal.

Foxes can be treated for mange by putting medication in a small amount of food for the duration of treatment. Homeopathic remedy arsenicum sulphur can be used to achieve a dramatic recovery.

I hope this helps.

KAREN HEATH
Mama Cat Trust
Camden Road, NW1