RSPCAThe first silver fox seen in 25 years is being looked after by the RSPCA after being captured in a UK garden.
And no it wasn’t Robert DeNiro, George Clooney or any other person you know who’s got grey hair. It was a real fox, with silver, black, and white fur.
Now we’ve got that sh*t and obvious joke out of the way (not that it’ll stop you making the joke in the comments) we can continue.
Not the Silver Fox we meant - Getty The extremely rare animal was caught lurking about a garden in Alsager, Cheshire, and has been nicknamed ‘Shadow’ because of his striking dark fur.
According to folklore, the silver fox is a harbinger of doom to all who see it or at least that’s what The Sun claims. When I googled it I couldn’t find anything specific about silver foxes being particularly portentous.
Instead, I found a lot of stories from Native American mythology about the silver fox creating the world and I prefer that to tabloid doom-mongering.
RSPCAAnyway, Shadow is in good health, he was captured safely, and the RSPCA is hoping they will be able to reunite him with his owner in due course – yes, Shadow may in fact not be wild.
Amanda Lovett, a Former RSPCA inspector, who runs a pet boarding house helped to capture Shadow.
She said:
I was alerted to a post on a local Facebook group and it would seem the fox had been in the garden for most of the day. This was on Saturday, one of the biggest nights for fireworks, and we knew we had to get the fox to safety.
I managed to safely catch the fox with a grasper and put him in a cat box before taking him to Stapeley Grange, who kindly stayed open later so he could be admitted.
RSPCAFollowing his capture, Shadow was taken to the Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in Nantwich where he was inspected by medical staff.
Vets at the centre found that Shadow was in good health, if a little overweight, with a healthy appetite. They added that it’s likely that Shadow was being kept as a pet and he has either escaped or he has been dumped by his owners.
Manager of Stapeley Grange Lee Stewart said:
He is the first silver fox we have ever had here at Stapeley Grange, in nearly 25 years we have been open.
He is an impressive-looking animal and it has been interesting to us all to have such a rare admission.
Vets at the centre confirmed that Shadow was not chipped and if no owner can be traced the charity will attempt to place Shadow with a specialist owner who will know how to look after this majestic beast.
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More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.