From Ralph

11/2/05

21st Century Fox

Here is a shaky picture of a fox who got inside our house, stayed all night and ripped antique soft furnishing to bits, several curtains and ripped a picture of Hunter (good taste, anyway!). I finally cornered it on the working top in the kitchen between the microwave and the fridge and called the RSPCA — our animal organization, who came after a couple of hours with a hoop stick. We manoeuvered it into a cage and got it back to the wilds of Suburbia. I talked to it of course and its eyes glazed over at times as it listened to the soft welsh lilt in my voice. And we discovered that it had also taken a crap accurately into our bedroom toilet, surely a first in the animal kingdom!

It ripped our furniture and tore our curtains quite savagely. Our burglar alarm failed to go off and why should it? It didn't steal anything. I photographed it and made the attached cartoon which will appear next week in the Independent.

Anyway, I was glad to have been able to talk to it. A precious hour which I will not forget.

OK. Living in the country can be such fun......