Rare black fox spotted in Somerset country lane
A rare black fox has been spotted strolling down a country lane in Somerset after escaping from a farm.
Karm Singh was driving home after a walk at Brean Down on Sunday 27 December when he saw what he thought was a stray dog.
It turned out to be an extremely rare black fox, which had escaped from Animal Farm Adventure Park in Berrow after storms caused damage to an electric fence.
Mr Singh said: “The car in front of us just stopped in the road - there were no traffic lights or anything, they just stopped with nothing going on.
“We saw in the distance what we thought was a stray dog, but then we saw it had a white tip on it and it was walking like a fox.”
Video courtesy Karm Singh
Mr Singh said it appeared to be an adult fox, with a “beautiful, thick black coat”.
He added: “It seemed quite comfortable just walking down the road slowly. The cars didn’t seem to scare it.
“I was tempted to get out and take a photo, but I didn’t want to scare it.”
Black foxes make up just 0.01 per cent of the population of wild foxes in the UK. In this case, the adventurous animal had escaped from his home at Animal Farm Adventure Park.
The park's manager Krystal Finch said Wilf the fox is now back at home spending time with their other black fox, Kit.
She told ITV News West Country that the two foxes were rescued by the farm in April, when Environmental Health officers told people who were keeping them as pets that they could no longer have them due to noise complaints.
She said: “We’ve had no issues here with them, but Wilf escaped several times from homes in the past.
“One time he escaped into the Trafford Centre in Manchester - he was found in a shop display window.”
She said she cried when she discovered he was missing but, thankfully, the owners of another farm just a few fields away had managed to coax Wilf into a stable.
Krystal said: “He’s realised now the grass isn’t always greener.”
Krystal Finch said she plans to do a live Q&A with the foxes on the farm's Facebook page on Wednesday 30 December to answer people's questions about the animals.
The farm - which has had to close due to Tier 3 restrictions - has had a difficult year, relying largely on donations to keep up its work rescuing animals.
You can donate and find out more here.
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