Scots woman feeds fox family sausage rolls for 25 years and is now on fourth generation

A woman who has been feeding sausage rolls and pizza to a family of foxes for over two decades has been helping the brood out for so long that she is on her fourth generation of furry friends.

Sharon Hughes, 57, became a viral sensation after sharing footage of the skulk of ginger animals on TikTok and Instagram. Her clips have been seen tens of millions of times, with social media users falling head over heels for the leftover-loving foxes.

The bushy-tailed animals are, of course, known for their cunning and the head of the family 25 years ago was clearly a clever creature, after they happened upon Sharon's back garden in East Kilbride and ended up with a decent meal.

Ever since then, the vulpids have been heading back to the same spot to be fed every single day. Sharon has seen four generations of the family appear at her window looking for scraps down the years and currently gives her leftovers to eight foxes most days.

Sharon often feeds the family with sausages and sausage rolls for their breakfast, but the crafty canids have also been lucky enough to gorge on pizza, eggs, Chinese takeaways, and chicken legs down the years.

Sharon, a receptionist, told the Sunday Mail last year: “We are now on the fourth generation of foxes. I remember feeding their great-grandparents. I began posting videos of the foxes being fed a few years ago and I now get messages from all over the world.

“The foxes now have 140,000 followers combined between my Instagram and TikTok accounts. There have been more than 90million views and over 10million likes on my posts.”

She continued: “I have received hundreds of thousands of messages that I can’t even begin to read, never mind answer them. I can’t believe my gang of foxes interests so many people. It is very humbling.”

And it's not just food Sharon gives her furry friends, as she has previously provided them with medical care. After one fox was hit by a car, she rushed it down to an animal sanctuary in Ayrshire, though it sadly could not be saved. And if she sees any of them in obvious pain, she sneaks special painkillers in their food.

The foxes know Sharon so well that each one of the eight that arrive daily answer her calls for the names she has given them, including Twisty, Little Ted, Dyson, and Charles.

Sharon said: “We call one fox Dyson because he hoovers everything up. Twisty got his name because his head is cocked on one side. However, he has been assessed by a vet by video and is okay. He thinks it is probably genetic.

"Charles got his name after he appeared for the first time on the day of the coronation. The foxes are very friendly and often bring us gifts like mice, which they leave on the doorstep.”

The animals are so tame that they have no issue coming right up to Sharon's back door to be fed, and they get on well with her three cats. The skulk's den is in the nearby woods and the foxes come when Sharon calls - though during their two-month mating season, she rarely sees them.

Sharon’s husband Billy died in May 2020, aged 57, after he was diagnosed with cancer. At the time she went public over concerns that people like Billy weren’t being properly screened during the pandemic.

Sharon added: “Billy loved the foxes like I do and he used to joke they were far better fed [than him]. No food goes in the bin when they are about, that’s for sure.”

Don't miss the latest news from around Scotland and beyond. Sign up to our daily newsletter.