England
Family films fox with two legs in their garden
Perfect balance: This fox also gets along well with two legs.
A fox in your own garden probably inspires many people anyway. The encounter with a fox amazed a family in England for one particular reason: it only had two legs.
Fox visits are not unusual for Phil and Jane Carter: according to the BBC, the animals regularly visit them in their garden and can be observed well there. However, one of the last encounters in December caused quite a stir among the family: a fox roamed around in the garden that only had two legs!
Quick-witted, the two grabbed their smartphones and filmed what they saw outside in their garden. His disability does not seem to limit the fox on the video recordings, he skillfully balanced his body weight on his two legs with his tail.
Thanks to the recordings, the red-haired two-legged friend has now also become a small internet star: Since the BBC reported on the video, it has been viewed more than four million times and has received frequent comments. Many users ask themselves above all: What happened to the other two legs? Was the fox mutilated, possibly even by an illegal trap?
Fox with two legs: Probably no injury
However, a BBC Wildlife reporter has a different and more benign theory: the animal was probably handicapped from birth. “It’s nature, it’s beautiful. I looked at the footage yesterday. It’s difficult: I think it’s probably a genetic abnormality or disorder, so it’s more of a congenital condition than an injury,” said Mike Dilger. This theory would be supported by the fact that the fox deals with its disability extremely cleverly – it is probably just used to it from birth.
The two fox filmers would like to see the little acrobat back in their garden and have already put food in the garden for him. So far, however, he has not been seen again.
Sources:BBC, “Derby Telegraph”