Fox harassment

A client has been seeing a litter of very young red fox pups accompanied by an adult and sometimes two. She is afraid that her cats are in danger. I don't want to kill them if I don't have to. Close behind where she sees them I found six old groundhog holes in a large hump of dirt that all look like they have been cleaned out and I think the foxes are living in one or more of them. If I harass them will she move them and not come back? What would be the best ways of doing this. Thanks

I've used the critter getter to harass foxes out.

https://www.amazon.com/Amtek-Critter-Gitter-Repeller-Flashing/dp/B0028PEQZU

I set it on travel corridors.

In my experience red foxes are easy to harass out of an area...something like coyote urine applied to different areas in the presumed denning area works very well for me.

Just did one, Red fox family under a shed was gone in 4 hrs, woodchuck returned to the den 10 mins later lol had him in a comstock next day..... Retired couple got a kick out of watching it and keeping me updated. What I do is dig at the den like I am trying to get the pups. Leave lots of scent at the hole, coyote gland works great. Smear it so mom gets scent on her fur. I even put some on a chunk of paper towel and toss it in. So far if the pups are young enough this has worked every time I tried it.

That's they question right there.

If the fox are comfortable enough with the location to den there, they will probably be back. Fox usually have several dens in their territory and move frequently. Any kind of harassment can drive them off. Something as simple as a flea infestation will get them to move, for a while.

There's a good chance that they will move on their own, in a month or so, when the pups are a little older and prey is getting scarce after feeding all those mouths. Sometimes working with the critters is a viable solution. You can then go about making the area as inhospitably as you can.

In the meantime, a couple of trail cams at the den site could expedite their departure while getting you some good pictures and videos.

I get fox calls every May and every May I tell people to live with it till July and I'll close the den after the pups have left. The State won't (except for very rare circumstances) let us lethally remove denning foxes. They usually forget about them in a week or two

Thanks to all for the advice. I figured out which hole they were using and dug and scratched the dirt at the entrance. Then applied coyote urine at the den and in a few other places that she had seen them. They have not been seen since.