Family stunned after spotting two-legged fox walking around garden 'like a human'

Foxes are a pretty common across the UK, and we all know exactly what they're supposed to look like.

So you can only imagine the sheer confusion that went through this family's minds when they saw a fox walking on two legs 'like a human'. Have a look at it stroll across someone's lawn:

The seriously unusual fox was spotted by a family in Derbyshire, who clearly couldn't believe what they were seeing.

Understandably, Phil and Jane Carter took a camera out to document this fox as it made its way around their garden - on two legs instead of four.

But this wasn't the only unusual thing about the fox.

While most foxes are typically frightened of humans and dash through the streets (and often the bins), this animal stayed in the couple's garden for around 45 minutes.

Phil told the BBC of the moment the fox was spotted: "My wife shouted, 'quick, grab your phone, we've got a two-legged fox on the lawn'.

"We had about five minutes of it going around the lawn smelling and picking up some meat and then off it went like a rocket."

As you can tell from the images, this poor fox either appears to have had a serious accident that resulted in the loss of its back legs, or it was simply born without them.

But if we know anything about animals, and that includes us humans, we can often adapt to get by - regardless of our troubles - and this is exactly what this fox has done.

Derbyshire Wildlife Trust agreed that the fox appeared to be thriving, despite having just two legs.

A spokesperson for the charity said: "We've never seen anything like this in the wild before but the animal looks relatively healthy and appears to have adapted to life on two legs."

Philip and Jane Carter

The fox has perhaps unsurprisingly proven to be a social media hit too.

Reacting to the footage of the animal walking on two legs, one viewer wrote: "Aww, poor thing. What strong spirit of survival."

A second speculated: "Wow, I thought I was looking at an oversized squirrel... All things 'truly' bright and beautiful."

"Incredible tenacity to survive. Isn't nature just wonderful?" remarked a third while a fourth added: "Awww, it looks fit and healthy though. Nature is incredible."

Other viewers, meanwhile, joked that the fox was proof that Fantastic Mr Fox was very much a reality.

As reported by the RSPCA, if you're ever unlucky enough to find a fox in a snare, the best thing you can do is contact them or the police.

This is because you risk harming yourself or the animal if you try and free it yourself - and you could potentially stress the creature out.

You can find out more about fox welfare here.

Topics: Animals

Emma Guinness