The Victim of Fantastic Mr Fox

I have become a victim of a hate crime. A crime so unspeakably cruel that it is something that stories are made of!

Okay, probably a tad dramatic and nowhere near a hate crime but it is becoming a plague of annoyances for me and has left me in a dilemma!



I am currently in a tormented battle with Mr Fox.
For the last 4 weeks Foxes, or at least one, has been targeting my rubbish bags. You may think that it seems impossible for one creature to solely have it out for me but it’s true.

4 weeks ago I placed my rubbish out on Thursday evening just as I have done for the last year. Friday morning came and the bin men had come to collect our waste but this time seemed different.

There wasn’t just the usual early alarm of the rubbish truck reversing into the close and a few men’s voices chattering away but instead a sound of metal against brick.  

It was clear that animals had ripped open the bags and the men were shovelling rubbish from the pavement into their truck. Shock hit me when on closer inspection it appeared to have been my bag that was opened.

The following week I prepared for it and double bagged our rubbish and put it out but, yet again, my bags were opened and the contents laid bare for all to see.

You may wonder how I feel this is a hate crime against me?

Well, my rubbish isn’t the only bag there. I live in a block of 6 flats so the rubbish point is the designated spot for all of us. 6 or more black bags are usually assembled together but on the first 2 occasion’s it was only mine that was opened.

So what was I doing wrong?

We, as a family, have very .little waste. We make sure we recycle everything and that it is all cleaned and placed for recycling; in fact we even have 2 extra household bins to collect the recycling as it doubles our general waste!

It must be food then?

No, we put our food waste in the brown bin and even then there isn’t that much as we are really against wasting food too; everything is portioned, frozen, cooled and served for lunches or extra meals. There is only the minutest amount of food that may end up in the bag.

The waste is hygiene products like baby wipes, small amount of food, nappies and non-recyclable plastics and food netting. There definitely doesn’t appear to be anything that is standing out; even the housing officer has said so.

Monday morning came and on my doorstep there were 2 letters; one was from the council and the other from the housing association both alerting me about the mess, in case I didn’t already know, and warning me that I could be fined if it carried on.

That was it; I had to do something, anything, just to stop this!

Off I went to purchase a black bin for the bags to go in and thought that even if the bin men had to take the bags out themselves it would stop the animals and the mess.

How wrong was I?

The following collection day my black bin was rolled on its side and once again my rubbish was littering the path.

Then, the sheer audacity, on my way home that Thursday evening I turned the corner of our close and there he was, Mr Fox, sitting on the curb watching me drive in!

This was no longer just me being poorly organised but instead a victim of targeted hate.

I felt like I was caught as a dim-witted character from Roald Dahls Fantastic Mr Fox!  

If you are unaware of the story the plot goes like this:

Mr Fox, in order to feed his family, visits three wicked, cruel and dim-witted farmers and snatches the livestock available. Tired of being outsmarted by Mr Fox, the evil farmers devise a plan to ambush him as he leaves his hole and camp out for his appearance.

However, Mr Fox devises a plot to acquire food. So cunning and sneaky that he gains accomplices to carry it out where together they raid the farmers and carry their loot home. Mrs Fox prepares a great celebratory banquet for the starving underground animals and their families and everyone joyfully cheers for this idea and Mr Fox is the hero.

How? How on earth is a story of theft and sneaky dishonesty a story for children? Admittedly, it was never my favourite story but now I am living this hell I’m taking even more dislike about it.

This week just gone I once again doubled my bags and placed them in the bin and they were ransacked again. As always, no one else’s has been touched and it is just mine. I really don’t want to be fined for this but what can I do? Has this happened to anyone else? How did you solve it?

Please help!