Fox in the Garden?

Hello! I hope someone can advise on this situation or offer some insight.
I tested my garden soil this year, only to find that it is very, very nutrient poor. Part of the regimen I am employing, as per advise given to me, is to add some bone meal and blood meal to my soil amendments. Standard, right?
Well, as soon as I started doing this A weird phenomenon began to occur- I would come out in the morning and find my plants dug up. Really, the plant dug up and pushed aside.
We have a skunk and a fox that routinely come into our yard to dig for grubs. So, I thought that was it, but then I realized that this only started to happen to plants set in after I began amending the soil. I experimented this weekend and planted a few items without adding bone& blood meal. They weren't dug up.

We have no squirrels (thanks to red-tailed hawks), woodchucks have never come close to the house to our knowledge, and there are no dogs near by. I haven't smelled the skunk yet this season. This leaves the fox. Has anyone ever heard of a Fox disrupting a garden? (By the way, I should mention this is occurring in flower and landscaping beds, not a vegetable garden).

I have heard stories of blood meal or bone meal (I don't remember which one...both?) attracting critters. I have used bone meal off and on and I have not had any problems. Sounds like you should try switching to other soil amendments. Compost and alfalfa pellets are what I use the most.

- Brent

And for bulbs, I use that "better than bone meal" supplement, Holland Bulb Booster (9-9-6)... the one with the red tulip on the package.

Brent, do the alfalfa pellets attract bunnies (I have visions of a bunny buffet line), or do you till them in so that's not an issue?

I will sometimes mix in some alfalfa when planting or spread them on the surface. I cannot say that I have ever seen a bunny in my neighborhood. My dog went crazy one time when I made the mistake of using some old cat food for fertilizer!

- Brent

Old cat food.... well, I guess I read once that native americans would bury a fish in the bottom of a planting hole, so...

:-)

I sort of have alfalfa... I am mixing in an amount of rabbit droppings, at least as much as my one rabbit can make!

Bloodmeal is supposed to do a good job of repelling rabbits, deer and squirrels. If it attracts anything, it wouldn't be any of the animals that don't eat meat. However, bone meal attracts animals.

What's happening sounds exactly like what the groundhogs do around here.

We have all kinds of foxes out here and I've never had them dig or otherwise bother any of the plants. Skunks will dig but you won't smell them unless somebody or something disturbs them.

When a groundhog was pulling up all my newly planted plants last year, I sprinkled snake repellent around the bed and it stopped. The only real solution for groundhogs, though, is to trap them.

An internet search turned up phrases such as this:

"Bone meal is an organic garden amendment made of ground bones. Not surprisingly, bone meal and many other common amendments attract animals."

"Be aware that the scent of animal-based organic fertilizers (bone meal, fish meal etc.) can attract skunks, raccoons or even dogs, encouraging them to dig up your bulbs."

Not sure about foxes, but it sounds like the bone meal is the source of your problem. Funny...a few years ago I ordered a number of bulbs and I purchased a bag of bone meal at the store. Why bone meal? I just thought that was what people did when they planted bulbs. Searching around there are still some people that swear by bone meal but it seems like a lot of people do not recommend it. I have not quite figured out how to use up the other half of the bag.

- Brent

I had a similar problem way back when I lived in Arizona. I had been using a particular brand of bone meal for years without problem...almost no smell and very cream-white in color. I ran out and insead of going to the nursery to get more, I grabbed a box of cheap bone meal while at Wal-Mart. I got it home and opened it and noticed a VERY strong smell and was brownish yellow. I used it anyway and immediately started having problems with the night time critters digging up my garden (we had a resident skunk in the neighborhood that I blamed it on). Since then, I still use bone meal, but give it a quick sniff before using a new brand. If it doesn't have a strong smell, I don't seem to have problems.

I do have an update... Two nights ago my husband needed to go out after dark. He opened up the door to find a HUGE raccoon in our car-port. This is the first raccoon we have seen in two years living in this house! I guess the fox was innocent after all. The fox actually has been very helpful, I guess, as I have seen her teaching her kits to dig grubs in our back yard!