A four-week-old baby in London, England, is recovering in hospital after a fox dragged him from his cradle and bit his finger off.
British police have confirmed they are investigating a fox attack on a 4-week-old baby at his home in Bromley, South-East London.
The baby was taken to hospital on Wednesday after the attack which left him with a hand injury. Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper reports the child was asleep when his mother heard a scream, then a heavy thud, as the baby was dragged to the floor.
Reports say one of the boy’s fingers was bitten off and had to be re-attached by surgeons.
In response to the startling attack, London’s mayor, Boris Johnson, said more must be done to tackle the problem of urban foxes.
At night time, it’s not unusual to see the animals in the city scavenging for food.
In 2010, baby twins were mauled by a fox as they slept in their cradles at home in East London. It entered the house through a back door which had been left open on a summer’s evening. Both girls suffered scarring to their faces and arms.


The indignation of folks at this story amazes me. How dare they allow a fox to get to their child!?!?!? While we allow nuts with war-grade weapons to get at our children...........
why do you allow nuts with war grade weapons ( what grade is war anyway? makes no sense) near your children? Maybe you should take a firearms safety course so that you can learn the basics. Just go on the NRA website and you'll find where they are scheduled all over the country. Maybe you should just stay away from both children and war grade weapons, what ever that is. If you are the one allowing it, maybe you should just stop it.
STUPID BRITTS PUT DOWN THE GROG!!! Try closing your doors & windows . If its HOT. Try installing security screen doors . They keep out NIGGAS & saturday morning CATHOLICS looking for donations . They should certainly keep out FOXES. A little COMMON SENSE goes a long way . Unfortunately GOOD COMMON SENSE is a dying attribute in the modern world . Instead lets go get a TATTOO To remind us of these attacks.
collapsed by the scared sheep bahhhhhh !!!!!!!!!!
Mike-1956442
Unfortunately GOOD COMMON SENSE is a dying attribute in the modern world .
So is finding people who know grammar, and can put together a set of coherent sentences. No one is afraid of you, provided you stay behind your closed doors and windows. What is frightening is the thought of madmen like you coming out of your caves.
Post a hefty bounty on them delivered DEAD and the problem will be corrected in a VERY SHORT TIME. Make it legal to kill them by any means,no questions ask.
Lucky, lucky baby. It could have been so much worse. I am glad they could re-attach his finger. Good thoughts for this wee one & his family.
Just put out cat food for them until they get used to you and when they come up to get it, then whack 'em in the head with a large hickory stick. Then you can skin them out and make a clever hat or fur collar for your long coat, and tie their tails to your car antenna for that custom 50's look. Neat. Are hickorys still legal in England? If not, you can use the local means..a snare. Silent, but deadly. Oh, be careful when you skin them, one nick and you could contract rabies or other pathogens and die, and of course as soon as the body heat leaves their fleas will be all over you...well, "like a flea on a fox" . Jus' sayin'. I guess if you've read this far you either recognize this as a joke..well except to J Peterhead above, who is thinking "what an idiot" well yes and no...or you've already waxed indignant about someone whacking a fox with a stick. I love these articles. Hope the baby is ok though. Not funny to him or his family.
I wonder how all those animal lovers that stopped fox hunting in England are feeling about themselves now????
Gayle19
Fox hunting was not done to protect people against fox attacks. It was a so-called sport where a captured fox was let loose so a bunch of jerks on horseback could follow their dogs who would chase the fox to the point of exhaustion so that they could watch them tear the frightened, exhausted out-numbered animal to shreds.
What an idiotic statement you just made.
Isn't that what AR15's are for...... Ohhh That's right you Brits gave up all of your guns,,,, Now you have to hunt them with knives and bows and arrows....... Oh almost forgot you are banning them too.
You are really an idiot if you think guns will honestly change things like this. Get a clue
There are plenty of guns that are legal in England. You'd be better off shooting at a moving Fox with a Shotgun (Legal) instead of an AR-15.
Rifles and hand guns are also legal, but there are sensible restrictions as to what kind.
JOregon
That's not what the NRA (and their spokesperson LaPierre) say, so it can't be right. You must believe what Piers Morgan says, too, and we know he is just a lousy Brit who wants our 2nd Amenment rights taken away. Send him home and feed him to the foxes, I say.
That is because they are liars.
For instance hand guns are permitted if the barrel is longer than 30 cm, all that is required is a Class I Firearms Certificate.
Many different styles of rifles are allowed.
Several different models of shotguns are allowed.
Here are the weapons that are prohibited:
http://www.cps.gov.uk/legal/d_to_g/firearms/#a14
I learned along time ago you can't believe what the gun cult tells you. You really need to check those guys out.
Why do they have such a need to lie? They lie a lot.
Karma, but now I understand the English desire to Fox Hunt. The lead in was misleading, I thought this would be about Fox News. Something Hannity would do to get the ratings back up after that crushing conservative loss in the last Presidential election. ...lol
Unfortunately the Brits have become government dependent weaklings. They are probably more concerned about the foxes' rights than the welfare of the child.
Here it's urban raccoons and coyotes, but all they attack if family pets--and sometimes an unwary runner or someone taking a walk on an urban trail. This really blew me away--I guess an infant is small enough to be considered "food".
Good cautionary for those of us who live where coyotes, bobcats, and even mountain lions and bears can get at our kids. If kids are in danger in inner city London, highly urbanized as it is, then suburban USA is the freaking wilderness as far as risk of infants and toddlers being attacked by hungry predators.
This country has the same problem but instead of foxes we have illegal aliens that come here and scavenge.
You know how they could fix this problem? Keep your doors and windows closed and locked. That way foxes and any other undesired intruders do not have easy access to your house. Just a nugget of common sense.
They need to start trapping those Fox If you don't try to control the animal population they will over run every thing and every where.
@ linda M D,
I disagree. Human population is spreading like wildfire. We're clearing forests to make it more civilize for the humans. This at the rate where wild animals' territories are getting less and less. We're the ones overrunning the animals, not them.
The Foxes of England are starting to take their revenge.
Hey Bagdadjoe! Im not sure where you live but its not illegal to feed wildlife where I live! Oh and its not "encouraging wildlife to where humans are" the wildlife was actually here first before we- humans that is- not me personally- started to take over their environment. Yes my home sadly has been built where it used to be fields and woodland. I dont agree with it but I didnt put myself on this earth and so I do need somewhere to live. I chose here so that I could enjoy the rural aspect and to protect it as much as I can- we live next to a conservation area that sadly some idiots feel it is ok to still intrude upon. However, with me as the neighbour, I can keep a watch and do notify the legal authorities when this happens! As I say, I did not choose to be born and cant go back in time even if I wanted to but hey I have decided not to add to the over-population of us humans by not having any sprogs of my own!! I do as much as I can to recycle my waste and to minimise my impact on the environment by choosing eco-friendly products. And I will continue to put out the occasional bit of food waste on the cold snowy nights to line the stomach of a hungry fox- its the least I feel I can do to say sorry for humans ruining their habitat and taking their lives!!!
Lenny 1
It is unfortunate that you choose not to procreate; this world needs more people like you who do not think it is their right to kill anything non-human just because they can. You have my utmost respect.
No one in England has a Screen door??? So they let bugs ,vermine and wild animals in for Fresh air..I thought England was a Civilized country ?
They don't have screen doors or screens on the windows in the UK because there are no mosquitos or flying roaches etc. They also do not have air conditioning so it is not unusual to have the windows open even in the winter. That being said I doubt a fox would be able to climb in a window even on the ground floor so I would imagine it entered through a cat flap.
The only important fact is not in the story. How did the fox get into the house? In the 2010 case, it came through an open door, and that's likely true in this case also. Why would you leave an open door or window with a baby in the house?
I'd like to know how it got in as well. Hard to imagine a fox climbing in a window.
I doubt this is a common occurrence so it's easy to imagine people not being aware of a danger of foxes in London. As it happens more often and gets publicized the dangers will be known to more people and fewer people will forget to shut their doors (as in the other case referenced.) It's the same with coyotes in American cities. No one expects them, but they show up in increasing frequency.
Kate
A coyote or a raccoon would kill an infant in a heartbeat.
Keep your door closed!
@Leslie,
I agree and locked up, of course.
This ain't animals out of control.
More like human population invading animal spaces.
The new Newsvine format is decidedly controlled, bigoted, selective, and discriminatory. The site suggests that you pick a "nation", then you find that that nation just happens to be "gated" and you cannot access this area or join this nation. WTF? @!$%# Newsvine. I guess they will eventually have it their way, essentially how they want it, whereby they have whom they want on the site, so they can engage in like minded, congruent conversation in their left-leaning format, because all opposing opinions aren't allowed into any of these gated nations for discussion. Whew!! What a run-on sentence! Just had to get it out in one breath! Newsvine, I told you a long time ago to clean up your act, but this is totally out of line. The new format is prejudicial, selective, and biased. In my opinion, this is not at all acceptable to the general public. Once again NEWSVINE, your true colors are showing.
....wish we had a few urban foxes around here....nothing but plump, spoiled and dumb females that think they are somehow special....
Now that's funny right thar! Don't care who yarr!
I'll just bet that Michael and Blamo are really super special guys! LOL, LOL. (NOT! and sarcasm)
Where do you sleazy, brainless dildos come from? Your parents failed - bigtime!
consider yourselves lucky out west in america it's coyotes and wolves
We have foxes too. Just don't leave doors open for wild animals to walk in. Duh!
I live in a neighborhood where foxes and coyotes come into the residential areas. People know to keep their cats inside and not feed animals outside. People here are also smart enough to not leave doors open. We have never had a baby or child attacked. Perhaps people should be smart enough to keep the doors shut at night?
A household canine would alert everyone to the danger and might be of some use chasing off a fox. Even a wee yapper would be of use. My lab would raise the alarm and chase it off. On another topic, why do the comments on everything seem to be used for repetitious contentious political rants? It matters not what the article is about. Fuzzy bunnies in easter baskets would still draw in political trolls. Said bunnies come in pastel colors including pink, so obviously its a gay, commie, fascist plot.... Interesting Phenomenon but tedious.
There must have been an opening in the house somewhere if the fox got inside. I wonder where it got in? But gosh, that's pretty awful to happen to such a young baby.
And the fox must have been desperate to get food. That's also terrible.