A giant fox weighing almost 2st has sparked debate that Britain may be home to even larger foxes.
The fox — which was 4ft long and weighed 26.5lbs — was twice the size of an average fox.
It was humanely trapped and killed by vet Keith Talbot, from Scotland, who was visiting his parents in Maidstone on Boxing Day.
The dog fox had allegedly killed his family’s cat, Amber.
The goliath was revealed on the internet-based Fieldsports Channel — which is now on the look out for other outsized foxes in the UK.
Charlie Jacoby from the channel told H&H that he had received over 100 responses.
And the largest so far was a 34lb animal found in Somerset last March.
“We’re finding not only urban foxes are bigger — though they definitely are — but in some pockets of the country, such as north Norfolk and north Somerset, foxes are reported to be larger than average,” said Mr Jacoby.
“If they have access to food they will grow,” he added.
“We’re not trying to monsterise foxes, but if people feed wild animals they lose their fear of humans, so you need to be careful.”
This news story was first published in the current issue of Horse & hound (13 January, 2011)
