A homeowner has gone viral after sharing the unexpected guest she discovered hiding under the floorboards while renovating.
As her new home is still being renovated, Amy Fuchsia Shaw, 33, isn’t living there until it’s finished. However, that isn’t to say the home has been completely unoccupied, as it turns out someone else made themselves comfortable.
Indeed, Shaw, from Essex, U.K, told Newsweek that she “was scared” when she heard a scratching noise coming from nearby. At first, she thought it could just be the neighbor’s cat curiously wandering around the space, but the reality wasn’t quite so.
“I opened the back doors to help dry the plaster in the house, and soon I heard something downstairs,” Shaw said. “I thought the neighbor’s cat went down there but I couldn’t find it, so I thought I’d scared it off. I blocked the back door with a piece of board to stop it getting back in, then I turned around to see a face staring at me from under the floorboards.”
As a matter of fact, there was a creature under the floorboards after all, but rather than a cat, it was a fox.
Shaw captured a video showing the fox peaking its head out from beneath the floorboards. She shared the clip of the “slight issue” she faced on TikTok (@amyfuchsiashaw) and it’s gone viral with over 1.4 million views and more than 175,800 likes at the time of writing.
The caption alongside the video reads: “No one prepares you for the part of adulthood where a fox is trapped beneath your floorboards.”
Once Shaw figured out what was hiding beneath the floor, she tried to lure the fox out with some dog food. Unfortunately, the fox appeared stuck and was trapped down there for around 20 minutes at the time.
“It was scratching to try and get out and panting in distress. So, I rang the builder and they told me about a loose floorboard hidden under their equipment, so I moved that and lifted the floorboard. Then the fox soon got out,” Shaw continued.
Just to be sure there weren’t any other unwelcome guests under her home, Shaw put her phone under the floorboards to check for others. Fortunately, she didn’t come across any more foxes or any cubs either.
While it was certainly a stressful situation in the moment, Shaw told Newsweek that the experience showed her the importance of allowing wildlife to have its own habitat.
She said: “Even though I don’t want a fox in my house, it did make me think that our gardens are their homes too. I think people loved the video because we have a soft spot for wildlife, and even simple things like hedgehog highways, bird feeders or planting flowers can make a huge difference.”
In the days since the video of the fox’s arrival went viral, it has amassed more than 700 comments on TikTok so far. Many people loved the idea of gaining a new pet during a renovation, as others jested about the fox simply being nosey.
One comment reads: “can I ask what company you used for your extension? ….I’d like a fox with mine too.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Hadn’t heard of a fox distribution system before! Keep him.”
Another person replied: “He’s moving in. Sorry I forgot to let you know in advance. He’ll take any bedroom, he’s not fussy.”
While one commenter quipped: “that’s the inspector, he’s just checking your sub floor.”
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