Ricky Gervais has welcomed a family of foxes to his garden – this is what to do if you find foxes in yours, according to wildlife experts
Say hello to his adorable fox family
Comedian Ricky Gervais is reminding all of us what a privilege it is to share our gardens with nature as he shares a glimpse of the fox family that has made his garden their home.
If you’re looking for some wildlife garden inspiration, look no further than Ricky Gervais’ Hampstead home. Packed with beautiful wildflowers, it’s perfect for attracting birds, butterflies, bees and apparently foxes, too.
While many of us might immediately think of ways to keep foxes out of a garden, Ricky is advocating that we share our green space with them instead. Here’s why wildlife experts agree with him.
Ricky Gervais' wildlife garden
Ricky frequently shares glimpses into his homelife, particularly his garden and the foxes that have made it their home on Instagram and Facebook.
‘What a privilege to have these in the garden. Look at the last one’s little curly tail ❤️,’ he captioned a recent Instagram post.
And since he’s even gone on to name the fox with the curly tail, Curly. How apt. This heartwarming display has drawn a lot of attention and support from commenters who praise his wildlife garden for sharing the space with the foxes.
‘Thank you for sharing space with these adorable neighbours, @rickygervais!’ said one.
‘I love this. I got excited thinking I was feeding a fox last week. Turns out it was next door's cat 😂,’ said another.
And they’re not only the ones who think Ricky has done a good job with his garden.
‘It's great to see Ricky has lots of flowering plants, which are great for pollinators. His lovely, large flower borders will provide nectar for pollinators, plus food & shelter for insects and birds. Rambling borders with a mix of plants are perfect. The foxes have obviously found food and shelter nearby and feel safe there!’ says Hannah Powell, director at Perrywood Garden Centres.
While some people can find foxes to be a nuisance, especially if they dig up your bulbs or poo on your lawn. However if you have embraced naturalistic planting and making your garden more wildlife-friendly, you should embrace all the nature that visits.
‘A garden should be a place where you can relax and destress, and very often part of the calm environment produced in a garden is as a result of the wildlife which visits, whether that’s bees or butterflies, wild birds, hedgehogs or even foxes. So every time I see wildlife using my garden, I do see that as something that I’ve done right and a privilege that they feel comfortable enough to enter and enjoy my outdoor space,’ says Lucie Bradley, gardens and greenhouse expert at Easy Garden Irrigation.
‘I’m happy for some plants to be damaged by squirrels digging, moles making tunnels or foxes marking their territory. Leaving plants to go to seed in the autumn allows wild birds to have a natural food source, and installing insect hotels is an easy way to encourage beneficial creatures to set up home.’
What to do if you have foxes in your garden
We can appreciate that not everyone feels confident sharing their garden with foxes. So, I asked our experts what you should do if foxes decide to make your garden their home.
‘Foxes are generally little cause for concern — they're now a familiar part of British wildlife, usually passing through unnoticed at night and rarely causing any real damage. If you'd rather they moved on, make your garden less appealing: secure your bins, clear away fallen fruit and bird-table scraps, keep shed doors shut, block gaps under decking, and house small pets in sturdy enclosures. Take away what's attracting them, and they'll probably move on,’ says Hannah.
‘I've lived in both London and rural Essex, and in both places, there are people who love foxes and those who don't! They can get a bad rep when they become a nuisance. In London, they took up residence in my tiny courtyard garden one summer, and there was a litter of cubs born in my raised flower bed. Whilst they were very cute, it did mean my garden was out of action, which was somewhat inconvenient.’
Lucie agrees, emphasising the need to keep your garden tidy and waste-free. You can even secure your bins with clever wheelie bin straps (£7.91, Amazon), which prevent unwanted noses from getting into your rubbish bins. She also recommends leaving an area of your garden ‘wild’ to provide a safe place for them.
‘If you want to make your garden an even better environment for the foxes visiting, then make sure they have access to fresh water, which could be something as simple as a ground-level birdbath or something more involved like adding a wildlife pond to your garden. In addition, leave them an area of your garden where they can feel secure by letting a quiet corner go a bit wild, where you can have dense shrubs for them to shelter below or places they can hide. If you have a boundary fence, then you can even make a small hole - even just 4 inches wide is sufficient for a fox to squeeze through,’ she says.
‘However, you need to be sensible as you don’t want foxes to set up permanent residence in your garden by digging a den under a garden building - so ensure any spaces under garden sheds or decking are carefully fenced off so they can’t find their way underneath.’
Make your garden wildlife friendly
It's never been so easy to fill your garden with native, wildlife-friendly plants and flowers than with this seedball kit.
Insects can be both vital pollinators and pest control, so ensure you are thinking of them when planning your garden. A bug hotel is one of the easiest ways to support them.
Every wildlife garden needs a water source for the birds, bugs and animals that visit. This stunning patio pond comes with three aquatic plants to creating a calming water feature that is loved by wildlife.
Do you agree with Ricky? Can you share your garden happily with a family of foxes?
