A CHEEKY fox has captured the hearts of a married couple who have befriended the mischievous creature – and shared a snap of the fox enjoying home comforts online.
Marcel and Beverley Payne from Maidstone, Kent often left food out in their garden for the local wildlife.
The pair were stunned when a fox decided to wonder into their home last week and captured the moment in a picture.
The couple told of how the crafty creature first entered their home during lockdown a few years prior but has now become a mainstay in their home.
Marcel captured an image of the fox who the couple have named Hope standing in the living room as wife Beverley lays on the couch.
Hope appears to be trying to catch Beverley’s attention as the fox stands watching as she scrolls on her phone.
Marcel,52, shared the image to social media last week writing: “Sitting in the living room in the summer with the doors open and we had a visitor.”
The post has received over 7,500 likes with more than 600 comments from social-media users who were split over the visitor.
One wrote: “Beautiful face. I feed four every night, lovely creatures.”
Another added: “I feel sorry for the fox as they are losing their habitat from all the house building. Forced to find someone to feed them. Beautiful animal.”
A third commented: “I would say that’s an unwelcome visitor!”
Another replied: “Aren’t you a lucky human.”
Speaking today Marcel said: “We live in a house that backs onto woods and have left food out for the badgers and foxes for years.
“We had the back doors open in the summer whilst watching tv and this chap wondered in to say hello.
“It was quite a shock, I was sitting opposite and had my mobile phone with me.
“The fox had a good walk around and left if it’s own accord several minutes later.
“The fox now visits every night and comes in and out the house as she pleases and can spend up to two hours at a time with us.
“‘Hope is the fox’s name, she still visits us nightly.
“She is pretty popular with all the neighbours thankfully, although we are always finding each others shoes in different gardens.
“She first showed up during Covid and would visit every night then disappeared for about a year and half then came back this summer.
“We cannot pet the fox and wouldn’t try to.
“She sometimes has a sleep but mainly comes in for food and sometimes she just shelters from the rain with us.
“On a subsequent visit the fox stole my wallet and disappeared out the door!
“The theft of the wallet was about two months ago and involved several households trying to stop her from disappearing back to her den with my wallet.
“After about 30 minutes she dropped it after being offered a chicken drumstick instead.
“I love foxes anyway because of their ability to survive in any environment.
“So much of their habitat is being destroyed so I think it’s difficult to complain when they are in close proximity as it’s humans that are moving closer to them.
“I think people would worry about the fox becoming to used to humans but it’s still very wild and the friendship is still very much in her terms.
“She has been around for years, I think the average lifespan for a wild fox is only about three or four years.”
