What Was It?
David can feel his heartbeat in his throat as he locks eyes with the unknown creature in his backyard. At first, he thought it was just a shadow, but it was no shadow. Whatever animal it was, it made David’s run blood cold.
He knew he had to pick up his little girl off the floor and run back inside, but he couldn’t; he was frozen in his tracks. Then, the creature moved forwards - its eyes glaring and nostrils snarling at David and his daughter. Time was running out.
An Ordinary Day
It started as just an ordinary day for David Scott. He had his breakfast, finished reading his morning paper and now he was going to take his toddler Jamie outside in the backyard to play.
Today was going to be a good day. David could just feel it. But this devoted dad had no idea what was lurking around the corner, waiting for David and his 3-year-old.
Noise In The Night
For the past few nights, David had been woken up by a strange noise outside. It sounded like scratching, followed by an eerie shriek.
He rubbed his tired eyes and peered outside the window but there was nothing there. His backyard seemed like it was empty. But David had no idea what was outside, hiding in the bushes.
What Was Going On?
This scratching noise had been going on for nearly a week and David was getting more impatient, not to mention restless because of his lack of sleep.
Thankfully the noise didn’t disturb his toddler too much, but the family was left stumped. They would soon find out the cause for this noise, and it would leave them lost for words.
Taking The Toddler Outsider
One warm summer morning, David and his family were sat around the table eating their breakfast. As David poured himself a coffee, his toddler Jamie, pointed outside. “You want to go outside,” David asked.
David finished his coffee and picked his toddler up to take her outside. The weather looked pretty decent, and there’s nothing wrong with getting some fresh air, right? Little did David know he would soon regret this decision.
Having A Good Time
The sound of giggle and laughter lingered in the air as David chased his toddler Jamie around their backyard. The 3-year-old was having such a good time.
But then suddenly the devoted dad saw something. At first, he thought it was just his shadow but he was so wrong.
Frozen In His Tracks
David was frozen in his tracks. Across from him in his own backyard was something that left his blood cold.
He felt panic creep up on him as he locked eyes with whatever this thing was. He needed to get back inside. David had no idea what was coming.
An Unknown Creature
You see in his backyard was a black, fluffy creature and it was staring straight at David and his little girl. He felt his heartbeat in his throat and he slowly picked up his toddler from the floor.
He didn’t know it at the time, but David was looking at one of the most rarest, yet deadliest creatures in the UK.
Getting Closer And Closer
The dark creature started to move closer towards David and his toddler and he yelled out. His wife, Maria came rushing out thinking their toddler had hurt herself.
As she walked into the backyard, Maria froze at the sight of the creature. At first she thought it was just a dog, but she was wrong.
Heading Back Inside
David and his family thought this mysterious animal would leave so they slowly retreated back inside, thinking it would go away. But it didn’t.
It was stood waiting for them outside. Its eyes glaring and nostrils snarling. David knew that this animal wasn’t going anywhere.
It Wasn’t Going Anywhere
Instead of leaving, the animal got closer and closer to the door and looked straight at the worried family behind the window.
They knew they couldn’t just leave it outside so Maria got out her phone and snapped some pics of the animal. She posted them to social media in the hope someone would be able to help, but she had no idea what she was about to discover.
An Expert
At first, it seemed nobody had answers for Maria and her family, but then Amanda Lovett, a former RSPCA inspector, saw the pictures of the creature and straight away contacted the family.
As she clung to the phone waiting for someone to pick up, she hoped it wasn’t too late. She had an idea of what exactly this creature was, and the Scot family needed to get far away from it as quickly as they can.
RSPCA
The RSPCA - Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a UK organization that has been caring and looking after animals since 1824.
But the RSPCA team had never heard of a case like this one reported by David and his family. They needed to be quick and go catch this creature once and for all.
Catching The Creature
Amanda and the rest of her team swiftly arrived at the home of Adam and his family. The team knew it was going to be a struggle to catch the unknown animal, but there was no other option.
A few hours passed and finally, the team managed to entice the animal in a box that Amanda took with her to the Wildlife Center Stapeley Grange. Once in a safer environment, Amanda could find out the truth about this creature. And when she did she dropped to her knees.
What Could It Be?
Once the creature arrived at the animal center, all of the employees were stumped at what this unknown animal could be.
After research, they found that this mysterious creature was indeed a fox, but a fox so rare that even officials were stunned to hear about it.
The Truth
This creature was a fox but a silver fox. Silver foxes have a condition called melanism, which is the opposite of albinism. The effects of this, results in their fur turning black instead of white.
This condition is incredibly rare, so employees at the animal center knew they had to keep their eye on this animal.
Star Of The Show
Since his time at the animal center, this fox has coined the nickname Shadow.
Although nobody has shown an interest in keeping Shadow as a pet, he sure is the star of the show at the animal center!