A "vicious" fox trapped eight people inside a sports club for three hours as it stalked them from the car park.
The animal appeared as people were preparing to leave Alconbury Sports and Social Club, Cambridgeshire. Panic
reigned, with a woman being bitten, a man falling off his bicycle as he
was chased and a pest controller being pursued back to his car. Club chairman Bruce Staines, who was chased around the car park, said he had "never seen anything like it". Mr Staines admitted he "tweaked his groin" trying to get away from the marauding animal and back to the safety of the club. "None of us could get out. When we tried to use a side door, the fox heard and came haring round there."
'Wasn't afraid'
A woman who tried to distract the fox with food sustained a bite to her hand. A man who tried to outpace the creature on his bicycle was chased into a field and fell off, losing his glasses in the process. "He had to fend the fox off with his bicycle," Mr Staines said.
The fox trapped people inside the club for about three hours, stalking them from the car park
Club members ended up
barricaded inside the building, watching the fox on the CCTV system as
it stalked outside, at about 22:00 BST on Saturday. The local pest controller was called, but when he tried to approach the animal it "went for him" and chased him back to his car. The fox was eventually caught and destroyed.
The pest controller's view
Graeme Brown, a pest controller for 18 years, was called in to help those trapped inside the club. "The fox started circling my car as soon as I arrived," he said. He
tried to move it on by stamping his feet, shouting and waving his arms
but when it refused to move he was "forced to beat a retreat". He said he had "never come across such a forward and aggressive fox as this one". "People who don't know about these animals should not approach them and never feed them. You're asking to be bitten. "Leaving this fox was not an option. I have no doubt about that," he said. "It was active in the area of a play park and I would not be prepared to put children at risk." "Foxes
can look very sweet, but as a family-orientated club we had real
concerns about this rather vicious animal. We have hundreds of children
playing in our leagues here," Mr Staines said. He said the pest
controller suggested the fox may have been an urban animal, which
somehow found itself in the middle of the countryside. "That might be why it wasn't at all afraid of humans." Neither the Wildlife Trust nor RSPCA was prepared to comment on the behaviour of the fox as their staff had not seen the animal.
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Bloody media. The way it was reported I expected a paragraph stating "rabies". No such drivel.
My Great Grandparents had a "pet" fox on the South Downs. Monty it was called. Never touched my Great Grandfather's chicken hutch but boy would it hide in the house when hunted.
It would have been funny had it occured near Wimbledon because, the chair umpire could have shouted for "New balls please!"
ReplyDeleteSorry:-) Have it large this weekend.
Poor old fox though, a rather ignominious end!
DeleteHave it large too this weekend!
Bloody media. The way it was reported I expected a paragraph stating "rabies". No such drivel.
ReplyDeleteMy Great Grandparents had a "pet" fox on the South Downs. Monty it was called. Never touched my Great Grandfather's chicken hutch but boy would it hide in the house when hunted.
Yes it did sound almost as though the BBC were going to say "rabies". I wonder how these people would have reacted if it had rabies?
Delete