Perfecting their technique

Repeated instances of fox home invasions have confirmed that the British are not safe from these creatures even in their own beds.

But when it comes to fox muggers, you probably figured the first one was a bizarre one-time incident. That was the time an English man was accosted in a supermarket parking lot by a fox that tried to steal his groceries. It only retreated when he gave up a loaf of garlic bread.

And then there was the case where a fox went for a more traditional street criminal's target: it actually stole a woman's handbag. But that story seemed to have a happy ending: the animal came back and returned the goods.

However, a recent development suggests that we should not find that so reassuring after all. In the most recent incident, the victim was again someone who'd just left a supermarket. This time, the fox got away with the London woman's entire bag full of groceries.

The trend is clear. The second fox no doubt belatedly realized the difficulty of trying to pass itself off as the owner of someone's credit cards. So the animals went back to attacking people carrying something actually useful to a fox, and this time, they got it right.

It looks like the testing phase is over, and these criminals are ready to get down to business. Now they know what to go after, and how to get it successfully. English grocery shoppers, watch your backs.


Oh, and if you think you're safe on my side of the pond? That photo by Flickr user flying white was taken in the US. A human at Yellowstone went without lunch that day for sure.