Fox Attack On Twin Girls

[saggyhairyarse]

I just read this on the 'Latest News' on BBC News but when I clicked on the headline there was no info.

I am shocked and hoping they are not seriously hurt.

Goodness, can't believe the sceptioism and suspicion here! DId you not read the bit at the bottom of the report about the 14wk old boy who had injuries to his head from a fox coming into the living room? Or perhaps his mother imagined the fox? Maybe she bit him herself?

Foxes get in all sorts of places to get food - and are adept at getting into places they shouldn't (chicken coops for e.g.) - plus they can clear 6ft fences (a friend of mine who had chickens can attest to that) so a cot with babies in shouldn't present too much problem! Arms are easiest to grab to try and drag them away.

Foxes are predators - they are not nice fluffy animals. And there are getting to be far far too many of them living in close proximity to humans.

Poor family - hope the little girls recover well.

pants, scepticism

yy what do people think caused the injuries if it wasn't a fox?

I am baffled. And if there was any doubt, fox DNA isn't the same as human DNA. V easy to test.

You would find it hard to replicate a fox bite unless you were seriously depraved and had enormous teeth.

Am amazed by the suggestion by Wannabe that people (in London?) or anywhere with children should not have their doors and windows open in the height of summer, but should be locked in and vigilantly patroling their houses at all times.

I have seen a case where a baby was attacked by a rat and initially the parents were suspected of harming it but a forensic dentist looked at the wounds and could say that they were definately caused by rats' teeth.

Wow, this threads a bit bigger than when I left it (yes I did go to bed).

Still doesnt sit right to me. I'm not throwing out wild accusations (honestly I dont think any of us doubters are, so relax) but its odd. A baby may seem small and pink and apparently similar to chickens, but imagine what they smell like to a fox? Not like natural prey, much more human and therefore unnerving.

I'm just saying a fox attacking 2 sleeping 9 month olds is odd. Didnt say the parents did it. A fox is a small, very light creature. Chickens are big in comparison, but still very light. My DD is 11 months old and certainly too big for a fox to drag away.

I grew up in Germany where foxes are a problem because they tend to have rabies. I'd believe a rabid fox who attack being driven ever-so-slightly mad, but even a starving fox (not likely in urban areas due to the massive amounts of waste we produce) would be hard pressed to attack a baby rather than get something to eat from a bin. Which is easier. As foxes are scavengers.

Just to recap: not saying the parents hurt their children, not saying a fox DIDNT do it...just holding my breath for more to this story as I find it odd.

Hope that clarifies!

Babies don't smell like adult humans, they smell of milk and food.

I keep my windows open at night. There are locks on them so that people can't get in but would be big enough for foxes. I live in Homerton (does that mean I'm dodgy? excellent!) - there are loads of foxes around here, especially with the park and various other green spaces. They come up close to the house and, when we lived around the corner from where we are now, lived in the back garden.

Friends of mine in Clapham had a fox (or foxes) trash their house once. It was disgusting and very smelly.

No idea if this is true but for the first time ever this morning I've had a fox in the garden. We are nowhere near where this happened but maybe there is something affecting foxes at the moment that is making them braver than they would normay be.

The case with the boy and his mother - they were on the ground floor and fox came in......this story is entirely different and "apparently" (I say this as we can only go off what we read and let's face it we read some tripe) no one actaully SAW a fox.

A fox stealing food, killing chickens/rabbits is different from attacking TWO sleeping babies.

I must admit that in my half asleep state when I got up and put the radio on this morning, that it all just sounded a little odd.

But hey, who knows!

"Am amazed by the suggestion by Wannabe that people (in London?) or anywhere with children should not have their doors and windows open in the height of
summer, but should be locked in and vigilantly patroling their houses at all times." I didn't say that. But most people wouldn't leave downstairs doors and windows open at night after they'd gone to bed. Not wide enough for someone to get in anyway. That's just common sense, surely? Upstairs windows are a different matter obviously. And if the family were not in bed, which would not be unusual at 10:00 at night, then how was it they didn't hear the fox come in through the window/door, walk through the downstairs of the house, go up the stairs, and heard nothing until it reached the children, who were both in separate cots? so it jumped into one cot, attacked the baby, jumped out of that cot, into the other one, attacked that baby, then ran down the stairs and was gone before anyone had seen it?

Nobody is saying that the parents inflicted the injuries. But would be interesting to know whether they had a dog.

Also worth noting that all the news reports make reference to the fact the twins were "apparently" and "aledgedly" attacked by a fox. Very telling that, and I am sure there will be more on this story in coming days.

Ah, the theory that it could have been a dog attack?

I guess it depends on whether or not they
a) had a dog
b) the babies were in one or two cots
c) the babies were attacked in the cot (don't know of any dogs who could jump into one but a fox could)

It's not remotely surprising that no one heard a fox in the house - they are as silent as cats on their feet, especially if they're being cautious/in hunting mode.

babies were in two cots apparently. along with a 4 year old who was in bed.

Dogs could jump into cots!! (I am not suggesting it was a dog btw- just saying that dogs can!!)

maybe it was a dinosaur

I live in central London and when I was 9 months pregnant, had a fox come into the house all the way up to my room. I thought it was the neighbours cat just like another poster has written and only realised it was a fox when I went to check that I'd shooed it away (the cat used to come visit but started spraying so was no longer welcome). The fox was standing in the garden just staring at me, wasn't at all scared. And yes, we had the back door open for some air as well - our garden is surrounded on all sides by other (much nicer!) houses and I often left the door open. My DH thought I was having a pregnancy moment until he staggered out of bed and saw it for himself - it stayed there for ages.

I would never have believed a fox would come into my house and make its way as far in as it did. It was scary. I keep the door closed now; I saw the fox in the garden again when our DD was born and she was lying on her mat in the living room. I remember freaking out at the time as she was so small lying there with a fox near her.

Hope the poor little babies make a swift recovery.

News is now saying a fox was captured in the garden overnight and had to be destroyed....

This makes my blood run cold -poor babies and poor parents.
Recently lost a hen to a fox -it scaled 6ft fence and ripped what I thought was a sturdy henhouse apart.The viciousness of the attack
stunned me.
They are not cute fluffy things they are predators and will have a go at most things as they do not have anything that preys on them in the wild .

We have a fox that lives on our roof, she is not at all bothered by us and has raised cubs there as well. She has however never shown the slightest bit of aggression towards us or DS and seemed happy for the food we left for her over the winter.

I don't know about this, but will be a leeetle more careful about shutting the windows etc.