Woman feeds Christmas leftovers to hungry fox who keeps showing up for dinner

Watch: Fox shows up at woman’s home for Christmas dinner

This is the moment a fox showed up at a woman’s house for a spot of Christmas dinner after knocking on her door every day for the past year.

Bea Skinner filmed the animal at her property in Poole, Dorset, after handing it a small bit of leftover turkey.

The fox can be seen sitting politely outside Skinner’s back door in Upper Parkstone after chomping down on the food on Christmas Day.

The animal, nicknamed Mrs Fox by her grandchildren, then looks around, waiting for Skinner to pop by and say hello.

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The unlikely bond between Skinner and the fox began last year.

Skinner said: “I never fed foxes, but when this one came into my garden early last spring, it was obvious that she had pups and I felt a bit sorry for her and gave her odd scraps.

“Every bite of food I gave her she carried away, assuming back to her den and her pups. Although I don't feed her regularly she now ‘knocks’ almost every day, by tapping the door with her paw, hoping for a morsel.

“She hangs around for a couple of minutes and then moves on. My grandchildren love Mrs Fox and I allow them to hand feed her. She takes the food so gently, she never snatches.”

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The video of the fox was taken after it had spent time “sunbathing” on Skinner’s shed roof.

She put a few pieces of leftover food out for her, and then the fox spent several minutes, “knocking and looking cute”, hoping for a second serving, Skinner said.

Other footage of the fox shows Skinner’s granddaughters hand-feeding it.

Skinner added: “Even though she does not get food every day she is a regular visitor and I like seeing her pass through my garden. To all fox haters – I know foxes are wild animals, but urban foxes have evolved.

“There seem to be a few foxes around. I often hear their shrill shrieks at night.”

Guidance from the RSPCA urges caution when feeding foxes.

"If you decide to provide food for foxes it’s important to bear in mind that whilst you like to see foxes your neighbours may not share the same view and may see foxes as a problem, which could result in action taken against the animals.

"As a result we would always recommend caution when feeding foxes.

"Don’t try to make them tame, never hand-feed them or put out too much food as foxes may not move far if all the food they need is available in one garden – they may bury some, defecate or cause other problems in neighbouring gardens leading to ill-feeling against the foxes."