The fox can be seen gazing adoringly at Beckinsale in several of the social media videos (and who can blame him?).
In other instances, You’ve Got A Friend by James Taylor can be heard playing in the background while he places his front paw on her leg to reach up for food.
Many people would write off these staged sequences as pure cringe, but the 48-year-old actress is not one of them.
“It changes your life.” I’m really grateful to all of my close friends.
And my little orphan bestie,” she posted on Instagram in reference to her fox pet.
The Los Angeles-based Beckinsale, whose big break came in 1993 in the film adaptation of Much Ado About Nothing while still a student at Oxford University, gets outraged when asked by a follower whether it’s a good idea to feed foxes and encourage them to live in urban surroundings. Of course.
I’m not a careless, foolish fool.
I’m sorry Kate, but I must disagree.
You’re talking gibberish, and your behaviors truly reflect a careless, foolish fool.
And if you don’t believe me, I invite you to spend a few minutes in my garden in South-West London.
Instead of finding shredded ham there, you’ll find a once-beautiful area that has been completely destroyed by a family of eight foxes.
They broke through from next door, where they reside in an uncared-for, overgrown garden that is partially owned by the council but that they couldn’t care less about.
They then damaged our fence.
Then, by leaping from the trellis fence’s top, they broke priceless terracotta pots and a stunning, old stone bowl that we had brought back from Greece many years before.
Nearly all of our plants have been destroyed (although weirdly, they appear to avoid the hydrangeas), and what little of our jasmine still smells of urine.
They frighten real domestic pets like dogs and cats and scare away birds.
When no one is around, they relax in the sun as though they reign Instagram, somewhat as Kate Beckinsale does in her videos which they probably do today.
They wail and shriek at night, which keeps us from sleeping and can be upsetting because it sounds like a lady screaming.
This is the time of year when they are either fighting with another pack or, more often in January, luring a mate with their rather unmellow vocalizations.
Despite the fact that the RSPCA and other admirable wildlife organizations downplay the risk of foxes baring their teeth on humans, we keep our rear doors and windows closed out of fear that the scavengers would someday feel inspired to enter the property and cause havoc.
According to the RSPCA, “foxes are one of Britain’s most popular creatures. Many people like seeing foxes in their yards.”
You might want to try explaining that to Pauline and Nick Koupparis, whose nine-month-old twin girls were mauled by a fox in 2010 because their East London home’s back door was left open. Lola and Isabella were dozing off in their beds at the time.
Pauline observed that they were both sobbing as she entered the room. Isabella was in her cot with her head down.
The fox was at the edge of Lola’s cot when I turned on the night light after noticing some blood and assuming she may have had a nose bleed.
Then I noticed that Lola was also coated in blood.
The girls were taken directly to the hospital, where Pauline noted that Isabella’s arm appeared to have been through a cheese grater.
Animal rights zealots started to hone their own fangs and accuse Pauline of demonizing foxes even before they left Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Three years later, a fox got into the family’s home in Bromley and injured a four-week-old baby, tearing off a finger and causing puncture wounds to his face.
Fortunately, it only took three hours for surgeons to successfully reattach the finger.
Foxes are considered vermin by many of us, yet the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs refers to them as “wild creatures.
“Which would be acceptable if they did, in fact, live mostly in the wild.
However, they have been moving into cities more and more, encouraged by individuals like Kate Beckinsale, and have become such a frequent sight that nobody even bats an eye.
Definitely not the municipal government.
The website of my local council, Hammersmith and Fulham, makes it plain that dealing with foxes is the landowner’s responsibility, “as with any problem.
“However, it also asserts that it is “illegal” to act independently and “capture foxes within their den or put down poisoned food.
“A misdemeanor that carries a maximum fine of £20,000.
Instead, the council advises locals to go to the “Fox Website” for additional details.
This turns out to be petkeen.com, a U.S. company that first discusses boxer Mike Tyson’s love with tigers before listing the places in which keeping a fox as a pet is legal.
I appreciate the support.
It is challenging to estimate the number of urban foxes in Britain.
A recent investigation by Brighton University found that approximately 150,000 of the 430,000 foxes estimated by the Mammal Society and the Animal and Plant Health Agency reside in towns and cities.
There is insufficient evidence to conclude that the 2004 Hunting Act, which outlawed the use of dogs in fox hunting, has significantly increased either national fox populations or, more specifically, urban fox populations.
Instead, the cunning fox is the one who has realized that surviving in cities is far preferable to doing so in rural areas, where farmers frequently employ a shoot-to-kill policy for roaming vermin.
The attention-seeking Beckinsales of this world are fostering this rising threat in our cities, even going against the advise of groups that promote foxes, like the RSPCA.
It is plainly stated by the animal charity: “Never try to tame them, never hand-feed them, and never put out too much food.”
My neighbor is certain that foxes will avoid human urine completely.
Although Trevor Williams, the creator of The Fox Project, claims it is only an urban legend, I haven’t personally tried this strategy.
There are many additional fox deterrent products available for purchase, but it’s also wise to determine why a fox entered your property in the first place, advises the expert.
The one in Beckinsale’s mother’s garden is obviously aware that he is on to something good.
Have you arrived for tea? In one of her clips, Kate says, “Come on, let’s go.”
It’s all so disgusting.
She might just come to her senses and understand that keeping foxes as pets is a vile act of selfishness if she only came over for tea in my yard.