In a sleepy little village near Watford lives an animal-mad young family, their three dogs, three horses, a cat and, remarkably, a pet fox.

Around seven months ago, a tiny puppy – or at least what appeared to be a puppy – was brought into a veterinary surgery in London Colney after being abandoned by its mother.  

However staff quickly realised that the pup, just a couple of days old at the time, was in fact a fox cub.

Natalie Reynolds, who lives with her partner and their two children aged three and five, received a call from her veterinary nurse friend asking if she would like to hand-rear the animal, and Jasper the fox has been living at their countryside home near Sarratt ever since.

Watford Observer:

“I was up every two hours in the night with him – it was like breastfeeding my children,” she said.

“They get such bad press but he’s around my children and he just plays with them. He’s got a different bond with me. He’s not so great with my partner.

“He’s like a cross between a cat and a dog. He’s part of the pack. The dogs chase him around, he loves the cat but the cat isn’t too fond of him.”

Watford Observer:

Much like a dog, Jasper plays with the kids and is taken out on regular walks through the woods. Unlike a dog however, he is never allowed off the lead, lives in a purpose-built enclosure in their garage, and often snaffles up scavenged road kill.

Natalie says she and her unconventional pet often get some strange looks from locals, especially from those affiliated with the now illegal practice of fox hunting.

“I always walk him on the lead – he’s so domesticated. A lot of people look down their noses at you. Some people are disgusted but most people are good about it,” she said.

“I’ve been told they are very versatile and that he could be released back into the wild but their average lifespan in the wild is just 18 months – they either get shot, poisoned, snared or hunted. I know of a woman in Bovingdon who has one that’s 14 years old.”

Watford Observer:

Jasper and chief reporter Matt Lennon get acquainted

Despite her fondness for Jasper, Natalie said she would never recommend anyone else keep such a wild pet, and this was underscored when, in fear, he nipped a Watford Observer photographer.

“We’re very fortunate that we have the stuff to keep him here but it’s not something I would advise in any way,” she added,

“I don’t want people to go out and think ‘this is great’. He’s not good in a domestic situation, he smells.

“They are just not a household pet.”