Foxy thief snatches bag - then returns it to owner

Ben James
The Argus, UK
Wed, 24 Oct 2012 13:49 UTC

The hunt is on for a 'thief' who stole a handbag from a woman. The suspect is described as 1.25 ft high, with pointed ears, hairy and red.

Jeremy Clark, 38, told The Argus how he was at home in Maple Drive, Burgess Hill, when he spotted a fox making off with his wife's handbag - then return it to her.

He was preparing to go to hospital with his wife, Anna, 35, when the cunning carnivore made his move.

He added: "We were in the [estate's] car park and he looked at me for a few seconds before letting out this feeble yelp.

"Next thing I knew he had my wife's handbag in his mouth and was running towards the bushes."

Jeremy screamed at the fox to drop the bag but he scuttled off out of sight.

He added: "Anna had everything in there: her phone, money, purse, keys and letters. I couldn't believe the fox had just taken it - it was mad. I thought that was it."handbag

But a few minutes later the guilty looking fox crept back into the car park with his bushy tail between his legs. In his mouth was Anna's bag which he dropped at her feet before running off.

Jeremy added: "I have no idea why, we couldn't believe it. We see the fox around quite a bit. I think people feed it."

Reader Comments

griffin · 2012-10-26T00:08:10Z

Some animals...

have more empathic awareness of social relationships than some humans.

Good fox.

NugaBurd · 2012-10-26T01:36:25Z

Oh, c'mon

"But a few minutes later the guilty looking fox crept back into the car park with his bushy tail between his legs..."

Talk about anthropomorphising! What is a "guilty look" on a fox's face?

Now, given that a comment from me in this section wouldn't be complete without a gratuitous pun...

It's a shame that this didn't happen on November 5th. Yes, folks, that's [ahem] Guy Fox Day.

Animanarchy · 2012-10-29T13:06:52Z

Not the first time.

I lived outside in the summer and cooked liver one night. I left some in the package to cook in the morning but when I woke up there was no sign of the liver or package. A couple days later the empty package was back near where I left it, then shortly after that I saw a family of raccoons living nearby.
I'm sure lots of animals feel "human" emotions. I have a lot of reasons to think so. One example: I was sitting on the edge of a forest looking in and a fox trotted by and smiled at me.
I've read that coyotes have dug around traps set for them and urinated on them. That seems like an obvious example of contempt.

NugaBurd · 2012-11-05T20:56:14Z

More anthropomorphising

A fox moved his facial muscles in a way similar to how a human moves his facial muscles when he smiles, therefore the fox was expressing a human emotion?

Was the coyote thinking "piss on it!' or was he marking it?

Let's say that your dog barks whenever a stranger approaches you. Is he doing so out of loyalty, to protect you? Or, given that you're his caregiver, he is doing so to protect himself?

If your cat jumps into your lap, is he being affectionate, or does he want attention?

Foxes, raccoons, coyotes, dogs and cat are not people, too!

Big Ben and the Royal Household Cavalry appear to be mainstays of British society. To have them both go off the rails at the same time is rather...

Baybars

Alexander Lukashenko; the pot calling the kettle 'black'.

I feel less safe, knowing this. Less safe from any western government.

JTF Truth

🐒🐵🐒 Hear No, See No, Speak No.

George never actually fessed up that he cut down a cherry tree.[Link]

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Foxy thief snatches bag - then returns it to owner

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