Warning over rat poison after East Yorkshire family of foxes killed

The fox cubs died despite being taken by the charity to a vets

A wildlife charity is calling on people to be more careful with pest control after a family of foxes died after apparently eating rat poison.

The Wildlife Alliance Hull and East Yorkshire was contacted by a Hull woman when she found a vixen and her three cubs sick in her garden.

Jennifer Quinn from the charity said people should use different methods to deal with rodents.

She described the animals' deaths as "awful".

"It causes manic running, so manic movements the fox can't keep still running around in circles," she said.

"You get a lot of vomiting vocalisation, so they scream, they literally scream.

"It's gut wrenching."

Ms Quinn said the mother was found dead at the scene and her three cubs were too ill to save, despite being taken to a vet for treatment.

She said the charity had also dealt with owls and other animals that had been poisoned, including cats and dogs.

Jennifer Quinn urged people to use alternatives to poisons to deal with pests

Ms Quinn added that people needed to use alternative methods to deal with pests.

"There are loads of different ways of keeping rats out of your garden," she said.

"Something as silly as the fact that rats as a species are neophobic, which basically means they don't like change.

"So just changing a few things around in your garden puts them off coming in."

She also suggested planting daffodils and hyacinths and using peppermint oil as a deterrent.