A corporate lawyer today revealed
the moment she felt ‘pure terror’ when she discovered a fox licking her
sleeping six-year-old daughter’s face after it sneaked into their
London home.
Jo
Williams said she did a double take when she saw the urban scavenger on
top of her daughter Ava’s bed on the fourth floor of the family’s £1.5
million house in Clapham, south London.
Luckily,
little Ava was not harmed after Ms Williams chased the fox around the
house for 90 minutes before it escaped out a roof window.
Intruder: This fox was found licking a
six-year-old girl's face as she slept in her bed in south London before
it was chased out by the girl's mother
Ms Williams, 40, was working in
her office next to Ava’s bedroom when she heard a loud thud. She rushed
into the room to find a fox licking around the girl’s chin and
mouth as
she slept.
She said the fox may have been attracted by a fruit-flavoured moisturising cream applied to treat Ava’s dry skin.
Ms Williams chased it into a spare
room before calling on a neighbour to help get the fox out of the house
because her husband was out.
Mother-of-two
Ms Williams said: ‘I went to check on her and saw this fox on top of
her with its tail all puffed out, looking really scary.
‘It looked at me then took another lick of Ava’s chin. I had a few seconds of pure terror where I just froze to the spot.
Unwanted house guest: Jo Williams, Ava's mother,
called on people not to feed foxes in a bid to stop them coming close
to residential areas
Left the door open: Ms Williams left the back
door of the £1.5million family home in Clapham (pictured) open the night
that the fox got into the house
‘I rushed to pick Ava up and
took her out the room, but it took another hour-and-a-half before I
could get the fox out. It had messed all over the room. It was
revolting.’
In 2010,
nine-month-old twin girls Lola and Isabella Koupparis suffered horrific
injuries when they were mauled by a fox as they slept in their cots at
their family home in Hackney, east London after the patio doors were
left open.
Incredibly this time, little Ava slept through the latest drama and was not injured.
Her
mother believes the fox got in through the back door of the house in a
leafy suburban street, near Clapham Common in south London, which had
been propped open as it was a balmy evening at around 8pm on Tuesday
September 3.
Fox attack: In 2010, nine-month-old twins
Isabella and Lola (pictured with mother Pauline) Koupparis were mauled
by a fox in Hackney, London
She said: ‘I won’t be leaving it open again.’
Ms Williams called on people to stop feeding foxes as she believes attracts them into urban areas.
She said: ‘A lot of people feed the foxes, but they forget they are vermin.
‘I think if people stopped feeding them there would be a lot less around and things like this wouldn’t happen.
‘You hear about the fox attacks on children and after the shock and the adrenaline you realise what a lucky escape we had.
‘When
I walked in I just did this cartoon double take, I was like “what is
this?” I was just so shocked. After I realised the fox had not mauled my
child, the adrenaline just kicked in. But afterwards, of course I was
terrified - you just keep thinking what could have happened.
‘My
little girl does not know anything about it. She was asleep the whole
time. After it happened I tried to wake her, but she was still in that
first stage of sleep. I’m now glad she doesn’t know.
‘Thankfully
there have been no ill-effects, but who knows what sort of diseases
foxes carry? I’m just so relieved it didn’t savage her.’
A spokesman for The Mammal Society said although foxes are not naturally aggressive they will attack when they feel threatened.
She
said: ‘In this case the fox could indeed have been attracted by the
girl’s face cream, but he could have been licking her face in the same
way a dog would and had no intention to attack her.
‘When
a fox attacks it is purely a last resort defence mechanism. It’s out of
fear, not out of aggression, usually if they are approached by humans
or can’t find their way out of somewhere.
Horrific injuries: The twins were mauled as they slept in their cots after the patio doors to the family home were left open
Defence mechanism: Foxes are not naturally aggressive but do attack if they feel threatened (file photo)
‘But foxes are becoming more habituated to human environments largely due to the abundance of food in urban areas.
‘People
can unintentionally encourage foxes by leaving food out in the garden
for other animals. Some people leave food scraps or cat food out for
hedgehogs, for example. And foxes eat anything so they’ll go for it.
‘To
minimise the chance of a fox getting in the house people should make
sure their bins are well maintained and try not to tame them as they
need to still be scared of you. If they lose that fear they become more
bold and that’s potentially when they get into houses.’
The
incident comes after five-week-old baby Denny Dolan was mauled by a fox
in his family living room in south London earlier this year. His mother
Hayley Crawley wrestled with the fox and fought it off but her son was
left soaked in blood and had gashes to his face and a black eye where
the fox hit him against the door frame.
Denny
had to have his finger reattached in surgery and needed stitches to his
cheek, as well as treatment for injuries to his face and head.
There are an estimated 33,000 urban foxes in the UK.
Bedside vigil: Denny Dolan lying in his hospital
bed after he was attacked by a fox in his home in south London earlier
this year. He had to have his finger reattached in surgery and needed
stitches to his cheek
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