Fox prime suspect in mystery of judge’s chewed shoe

A former judge is on the tail of an intruder who sneaked into his home in the dead of night to eat his shoes – an urban fox. Dudley Thomas was “flabbergasted” when he awoke to discover a favourite brown leather loafer with its back chewed out. He believes all the evidence points to an audacious raid by an urban fox and is warning neighbours to be on their guard. The culprit struck as Mr Thomas and his wife Sue, a retired family doctor, slept at their large house in Cotham, Bristol.

When he got up he noticed just one of his shoes where he had left then, but the other had been hauled onto a balcony and partially devoured. Mr Thomas, 64, a retired district judge, said: “I could smell a fox smell, I knew it must be a fox. I didn’t think a rat or cat could have done it and there were no dogs in the house. I also don’t think it was an angry person I had dealt with in court.”


Photo from SWNS.

He thinks it must have slipped into the house after walking along a garden wall and scaling the balcony. It then got through a partially-open sash window, 30ft above the ground, and into the first floor living room before searching around. “I’m flabbergasted it was so bold,” added Mr Thomas, who heard nothing during the night of the raid. Dr Thomas, 62, said: “I think that people should be aware that a fox could get in through a window like that.

“I can think of no other explanation, no doors were left open, just the window. There was a very strong smell of fox in our study, it really stinks, and we see foxes around where we live all the time. We don’t have any small children in the house, but after recent events people might want to be careful about leaving windows open if they do.” There are an estimated 27 foxes per square mile living in close proximity to humans in urban areas of England.