An eight-year-old from Leeds, West Yorkshire, has described a night-time encounter with a fox while camping in the garden. Ada and her father decided to sleep outside because the house was boiling during the UK heatwave. Before bed, while playing catch, they heard swifts swooping around the house in the orange evening light.
A missed visit and a second chance
Once it had cooled down, Ada's father said it was time for bed and tucked her up. During the night, he heard something and tried to wake her, but she missed seeing a vixen – a female fox – drinking from the pond. The next morning, Ada told her father that if the fox came again, he should pull her toe.
There are about 150,000 urban foxes living in towns and cities across the UK. They have remarkable hearing – able to hear a watch ticking from 40 metres away and a mouse moving under the snow.
Nose to nose with the vixen
That night, the fox returned. Ada's father woke her by pulling her toe, and she felt sleepy but excited. The vixen stood just 10cm away from the tent, and they were nose to nose. She was looking through the mesh window with sharp pointed teeth and triangular ears pointing up into the night sky. The most striking feature was her beautiful amber fur, which looked soft, and her eyes glistened in the moonlight.
Ada reflected that you do not need to live in the countryside to see amazing wildlife.
