A wildlife fan has struck up an extraordinary friendship with a young fox after he noticed she was ill.
Bob Dunlop realized the fox had developed mange on her tail after spying her lack of hair on wildlife cameras set up near his home in Littleport, Cambridgeshire.
The 69-year-old worked out where the animal’s den was located and began to treat the cub by feeding it bread with a homeopathic remedy recommended by a wildlife expert.
Their heart-warming friendship blossomed as the young kit began to greet Mr Dunlop on his daily walks through the English forest.
Mr Dunlop said he knows he must let her re-wild and is slowly cutting down the amount of time he visits—and has already stopped feeding her.
“She’s such a special animal, it will be hard to let go.”
“But I do not intend to make her tame as she is a wild fox.”
In the video below, the fox can be seen rolling on her back and affectionately biting at Mr Dunlop’s trousers for his attention. She also greets him as he approaches, yelping and whining with excitement.
Dunlop began treating the mange—a skin disease caused by microscopic mites that burrow into skin—back in December.
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Arsenicum and sulphur
He was unwilling to leave it untreated and sought advice from the National Fox Welfare Society. They sent Dunlop an arsenicum and sulphur 30c homeopathic remedy to treat it, free of charge.
He put the drops on some bread, alongside some dried food, delivering it every day.
Curing the mange also resulted in a unique bond between the compassionate Scotsman and the fox, which began acting more like a dog than a wild animal.
“It was a labor of love,” he told SWNS news service. “I monitored and fed her on a daily basis.
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“I think she’s coming up to a year old because I believe she is the last remaining cub of a previous fox family who lived there.
“The mother of those cubs had some mange on her tail too – I think that’s where she got it from.”
“The day I put the food down and she first showed her belly, it was just wonderful.
“I know at some point I’ve got to stop and let her rewild. I think she was just a lonely animal that was ill, has recovered and is showing her appreciation.
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“She hides when she hears other people approach and is hunting at night which I see on my camera so I’m not concerned she’s at risk of being too tame.”
And he hopes that she might have her own cubs one day.
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