Meet the fox who thinks she's a dog
Twenty-five-year-old Emma Desilva adopted Toddy when he was about four months old, and he has been living with her and her two dogs ever since.
The 11-month-old fox cub spent so much time with his dog buddies that he started acting like them.
(Total 8 photos)
1. Toddy with his owner Emma Desilva. A fox cub, rescued as a cub, now considers itself a dog after being raised as a pet, even walking on a leash. (© SWNS)
2. Emma Desilva caresses her beloved pet Toddy. (© SWNS)
3. Toddy on a walk with his mistress. He is walked along with Emma's Labradors - Sky and Oakley, which makes passers-by look carefully when they see the animal running through the park. (© SWNS)
4. A fox cub sleeps in a dog house in the garden, plays with dog toys and even wags its tail when it's time for feeding. (© SWNS)
5. Toddy is resting. (© SWNS)
Emma told reporters: “Todd was never familiar with wildlife. People come up to me asking if it's a fox and asking me to pet it. We really have a strong connection with him, and he always walks on a leash. He loves to play with me. And he will jump at me, wagging his tail when I go to feed him, and fall on his back to have his stomach tickled. He can enter the house, although a kennel is specially built for him, but often prefers to stay outside.
We made him a little plastic kennel with blankets, like a dog bed. He wants to do what the dogs do, but I can't let him off the leash because he's deaf and I can't call him back.
At first he acted crazy, but now he began to get used to the company of other people. If people or dogs come up to him in the park, he will first cling to the ground and freeze, but after a few seconds he will already be sniffing dogs or sitting still.
6. Toddy with his dog friends. (© SWNS)
Emma's house has three bedrooms, and Todd lives there with other inhabitants of her menagerie: with a skunk, a raccoon, lizards and snakes.
7. (© SWNS)
Emma donates some of her 40 animals to schools and nursing homes, allowing children and the elderly to interact with a variety of captive-bred animals.
8. Emma Desilva poses for a photograph with Toddy. (© SWNS)
Last year, footage appeared on the Internet, as a charming little fox was freed from a tin can.
He was seen by the owner of the house in the backyard, who went outside to help the injured animal. The Savior removed the jar from the head of the fox cub, seeing the shocked, but happy cub with freedom.