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Foxy Follower!
Well there I was this morning, putting in 30 mins hard graft and about a km away from home I had 2 foxes jump out in my path...... I think we startled each other but as I carried on running, one and then the other started to follow me! 
I dont live in the busiest area and at 5.40am there was no traffic or people around so I tried to turn a shoo them away, they sheepishly backed off but as soon as I turned to run again, they were near enough on my heels following again...... 
I dunno if they were "playing", or were threatened and trying to ward me off or what but I literally covered about 1/2 a km having to stop/start, trying to scare them off and not finding anything to chuck at them or scare them with..... It wasnt until (thankfully) a couple came past and the number advantage must have scared the foxes away...
I see at least 1 fox a week on my runs and I do vary my routes so this wont help (this morning I actually saw 3 or 4 including this mischeivious pair!) and have never had a problem....... does anyone have any ideas to combat this? They came out of someones garden so Im pretty sure I didnt disturb their warren (do foxes live in warrens?)
Anyone else have this issue or have a way of scaring off any future curious foxes?? 
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Comments
I'd say just keep running - they'll either get bored and stop following, or get scared off by other people, like this morning.
Foxes live in earths, or dens.
I should think it's quite nice to have foxes for jogging companions, provided they don't get under your feet. I once had a pheasant do much the same to me when I was on my bike...
,,,not quite the same, though!
I'm with Mick on this one - that sounds like a really great thing to happen (as long as they weren't snapping at your heels or getting under your feet). If they're not a threat, why scare them off?
I was just worried about them either tripping me or having a go at biting my calves (plenty of meat there for the scavengers!)
I work at a vets and we have had a few cats in that have been attacked by a fox. We are not always 100% that it is foxes but the owners so it is.
I think they are just getting braver
You aren't in any danger from foxes. They get very used to people, and as long as they aren't threatened will live in quite close proximity.
The likelehood is they were just going in the same direction as you. Foxes have very well defined "routes" that they follow.
At the end of the day they're wild animals, if they can see that you're bigger than they are they'll leave you alone.
I had the fright of my life a few weeks back when I jumped into a hedge to have a quick wee and was confronted by a snarling badger. Never seen one before that wasn't dead by the side of the road. Not sure who was most scared, but it def made me run home faster for my wee.
I run really early mornings and have neer seen a fox, loads or rabbits and some deer but never a fox.
I see a lot of foxes, both in the woods and on the streets.
They never follow me though - they just head away as I approach.
I think badgers must be a bit slow runnersbeen - I startled one as I came around a corner, and I can't imagine it couldn't hear me puffing up the hill towards it.
Somewhere, there's a badger relating the tale of when he was frightened out of his skin by a human, who jumped into the hedge he was having a wee in...
early morning off-road runs are great for wildlife spotting. I often see kingfishers along the canal near me, deer in the woods, and I have seen a young fox in there. Also kestrels, owls, and so on , but not yet a badger. I know they're about though, was talking to a lady just t'other day who HAD seen one, so I live in hope!
Yup - see loads of foxes on early morning runs, but I'm always accompanied by my dogs, so I don't think even the most curious of foxes would try to follow me. If they did I'd be thrilled. I've heard that foxes often carry some nasty bugs, but I doubt very much that they'd get close enough to bite - unless you smelt particularly tasty!
Carry nasty bugs? In a bag?
I saw one once carrying half a chicken.
Last time I saw a fox while running it was sat scratching itself next to a farm gate which had a pro-hunt sign on it '59% of people support hunting'. If only I'd had a camera...
That reminded me of the time I was walking to uni and I saw a squirrel holding something shiny... it was tearing into a bar of fruit and nut chocolate!
So a mixed opinion......... It just sort of freaked me out as the numerous foxes I'd seen previously just go about their business (usually of just hiding).....
Thing is, these local to me forage through rubbish etc for food and aren't your country type chicken killers (prob more chance of having chicken nuggets!) so who knows what they're carrying! (in bags or otherwise eh Mick!)
I can see why you would be scared
Those massive things that attack and eat humans on a regular basis - roaming around the plains of England preying on unsuspecting runners at 5.40am.
They must be related to the tiger - albeit only marginally (and hardly measurably) smaller
I like your sarcasm! Turn the tales and I'd probably say something similar........ however I'd rather not trip over an overgrown rat or catch some dirty disease off a brother of Basil is the point Im making....
Hi
Thanks for cheering me up guys! Having a rough day at work and the idea of all the joggers out there being chased by the cast from Wind and the Willows made me chuckle. Don't mean to be insensitive, I too would have been scared by two foxes chasing me, but you have to see the funny side
M
A tale to put this in perspective:-
A few years ago I was taking part in a x country skiing event in Finland. Part of the course went through some forest where there were Wolves. I noticed that some of the marshalls were armed with rifles, and on enquiring was told that this was so that they could defend themselves should the Wolves turn up (in reality they simply fire the rifle into the air to scare the animals off). When I asked what competitors should do if they came across a wolf I recieved the laconic - and typically Scandanavian- reply
"Ski faster"
Struthie - Something similar happened to me and OH out on a run earlier this year.
We were running down this long and lonesome lane when we noticed 2 dogs coming towards us. I don't mind dogs but OH is a bit wary. I told him to ignore them and they shouldn't bother us .... well, it worked with one but I'm sure OH must have peeked at the other because he decided he'd like to tag along with us.
We tried to make him go away but he insisted we were going the way he wanted to go too. As he had no collar on and we had nothing to use as a lead there wasn't much we could do but let him join us. He was a beautiful young labrador and even OH began to admire him.
After a few miles with our canine companion we began to realise that we would soon have to cross a busy road and nor wanting the dog to come to any harm had to try and lose him, quickly.
Our chance occured when he stopped in the gateway to a house and began sniffing about, as he headed on down the drive we sprinted off as fast as we could until we reached the junction. We carried on but at a more natural pace and thankfully, couldn't see him behind us.
My hope is that he found his way home or that the people whose house he gone into would contact the police and report a lost dog. Which is what I'd have done if it had been possible to cross the road with a leadless dog that I don't know!
Oi Plod, Im with ya on that one! Or a big stick!
Were you listening to music on that run?
Would have been very strange if you were listening to ' Fox on the run ' by Sweet
. Great music from the 70's.
When fishing early one morning had an otter surface right beside me, made me jump
,it scrambled up the bank & ran down path, few minutes later came crashing through reeds & long grass along path toward me( put shivers up my spine) then dived back into river beside me. PHEW
I miss someone yelling when you go for a run after a game drive
"EISH.....LIE-ON"
Watch out foxes, Paul & PO are after you......