Lancing woman's brake cables targeted by fox

1:00pm Sunday 24th February 2013 in News By Peter Truman

Lancing woman's brake cables targeted by fox Lancing woman's brake cables targeted by fox

A mother has taken to fencing in her car to stop it being repeatedly attacked by foxes.

At first Jeanne Emerson thought the vehicle was being targeted by human vandals.

But it turned out the sly saboteurs were foxes, who have bitten through the brake cables of her Peugeot six times.

The 55-year-old, who lives in Pemberton Close, in Lancing, has now put chicken wire around her car to stop the animals getting |to it.

She said she could not afford any more incidents after seeing her insurance premiums rocket following successive claims.

The first attack was in September last year, with the car being damaged twice in two weeks.

Fearing foul play, Mrs Emerson called the police, but was stunned when forensic experts told her the cunning culprits were foxes.

She said: “I discovered they like brake fluid because it is sweet.”

Worse was to come as, having fixed the car, the brush-tailed brutes were at it again.

Mrs Emerson said: “Foxes are creatures of habit and they kept coming back.”

She tried moving her vehicle into different parking spots, despite having a specific space for the car, which |is specially adapted for her disabled daughter Samantha.

But she could not out-fox the animals, who managed to track down her car – the only one high enough in the area for the foxes to get underneath.

After attempts with anti-chew spray and animal repellants, she decided to take matters to the extreme and now wraps a length of chicken wire around it whenever she parks.

And it seems to be working.

She said: “They haven’t got through it yet, touch wood.

“There are often three or four of them sitting there looking at it but they don’t know what to do now.”

Mrs Emerson said her close frequently has foxes now and they are becoming a nuisance.

She said once one of the animals even tried to climb through her window while she was taking a shower.

While against fox hunting, she believed a “humane and quick” cull could be the answer.

She added: “Sometimes people feel sorry for them and feed them, or there are plenty of wheelie bins.

“They have become domesticated and do not fear humans any more.”

Comments(14)

Soleless Shooter says...
1:26pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Stop testing beef products for DNA from other species and any such problems will soon disappear.

I've ticked the box to 'donate body to science'. I now wonder if that includes research at Albanian or Romanian Food Mincing 'Universities'.

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fredaj says...
2:35pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Brake fluid in generally in solid copper pipework so how exactly are the foxes chewing through that?

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Telscombe Cliffy says...
2:54pm Sun 24 Feb 13

fredaj wrote:
Brake fluid in generally in solid copper pipework so how exactly are the foxes chewing through that?
Perhaps its the reinforced rubber flexible sections at each wheel. Hard to see in the photo above though

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puddingandpi says...
4:21pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Foxes are not becoming domesticated, that's a silly thing to say. And as for a cull, for a start off, as soon as you kill one fox another one takes over the territory so that won't help.
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Secondly, how many foxes damage humans each year? 4, 5? How many dogs damage humans each year? About 6000. How many humans are damaged by cars every year? About 200,000, including fatalities.
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So let's lay off the foxes. Keep fencing them out & learn to live with them. Do be aware, though, that foxes can get through chicken wire, they're very resourceful.

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saraman says...
4:33pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Foxes are becoming a right pain. I have nine neighbours bacing on to my plot of land in Southwick. One of these inconsiderate neighbours has allowed her garden to cecome a complete mess. It's like a jungle, totally overgrown. The consequence is that foxes took up residence therer about 4 years ago and are now tearing my garden to pieces and not just jumping over the fences but burstng straight through them. For my veg plot I hjave had to make up frames covered with chicken wire to place over rows of veg seeds that I have newly sown. If I could dispose of them myself through whatever means I would but I am fearful of being persued by animal rights lobbyists and ultimately by the law. I is now totally dispiriting so my sympathies are totally with the car owner.

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puddingandpi says...
5:13pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Aren't you supposed to put lion faeces down to keep foxes away? I think you can buy it online from zoos. Don't get me wrong - yes, foxes are total pains in the @r$e, they are as dangerous as any other animal, destructive, smelly & noisy.
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But we have to accept that they're here & deal with it. You can't tell me that Indian villagers wouldn't love to cull the tigers that keep eating them & villagers in India & Africa wouldn't love to shoot the elephants that raid their crops & trash their homes. What about the seals & otters blamed for eating fish stocks, should we cull them? The Canadians kill the seals, the Brits get all @r$ey about it & send Paul McCartney to get them to stop it.
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I've always been grateful that British wildlife is so cr@p compared to everywhere else. We don't have mustangs & brumbies, bears of any description, alligators, wolves, cougars, monkeys, Taipans, box jellyfish, rattlesnakes...I think we should be able to cope with foxes.

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MIDNIGHT COWBOY says...
5:42pm Sun 24 Feb 13

I think 'The Fox Project' charity offers humane solutions. Have a look on their website.

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mimseycal says...
8:23pm Sun 24 Feb 13

And the next installment in this fascinating battle for supremacy between Rupert and the defenceless resident is next week when we will read about a ferocious fox who stalked an unsuspecting teenager munching a burger!

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plantwoman says...
8:28pm Sun 24 Feb 13

Don't use anything to do with bonemeal in your garden and they won't dig it up. By the way, why should lion poo discourage foxes, how would they know what it was, we don't have many lions roaming about in Sussex! I think 2013 must be 'let's get the fox' year - it's getting out of hand - just leave them alone! As for chewing through brake cable, I'm sorry but I'm not 100% convinced. The National Fox Welfare Society has some good advice about foxes and it's all humane.

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plantwoman says...
8:32pm Sun 24 Feb 13

saraman wrote:
Foxes are becoming a right pain. I have nine neighbours bacing on to my plot of land in Southwick. One of these inconsiderate neighbours has allowed her garden to cecome a complete mess. It's like a jungle, totally overgrown. The consequence is that foxes took up residence therer about 4 years ago and are now tearing my garden to pieces and not just jumping over the fences but burstng straight through them. For my veg plot I hjave had to make up frames covered with chicken wire to place over rows of veg seeds that I have newly sown. If I could dispose of them myself through whatever means I would but I am fearful of being persued by animal rights lobbyists and ultimately by the law. I is now totally dispiriting so my sympathies are totally with the car owner.
Chances are that the foxes were already there but you didn't see them. If it wasn't foxes getting at your seeds, it would be pigeons or squirrels so you'd still have to cover them. I had trouble with squirrels pulling my spring bulbs out of the pots and leaving them on top of the soil until I covered the pots with chicken wire - it's just one of those things. You can't have it all your own way, either you want to live amongst the wildlife or you move to a high-rise - I know which I'd choose!

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John Steed says...
9:26pm Sun 24 Feb 13

the intresting point is how they knew to chew through the flexible hose to get at the toxic but tasty brake fluid.

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MikeyA says...
7:59am Mon 25 Feb 13

Maybe it's part of a conspiracy to benefit from her will. Very 'Agatha Christie'.....

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whereisthe...? says...
9:12am Mon 25 Feb 13

Wouldnt it be easier to wrap the brake lines with chicken wire, (or something protective) rather than fencing in the whole car?

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gingersandy38 says...
9:04pm Mon 25 Feb 13

find it funny that the alledged foxes have been only targetting this car.

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