Video: Rare black fox caught on film in Calderdale

A nature enthusiast has captured rare footage of a black fox playing in the fields from his window kitchen window.
By The Newsroom
Published 10th Jul 2015, 07:59 BST
Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.
Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.

Robert Burn, who has dubbed himself “Black Fox Bob”, spotted the animal with another fox, at his home in Canterbury Crescent, Boothtown.

“I was looking out of the window thinking there was a black cat at the other side of the valley,” said Mr Burn. “I got my binoculars and thought ‘it’s a black fox’.”

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He made a note of the time and set up his camera the next day to capture the animal.

Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.
Nature enthusiast Robert Burn "Black Fox Bob" of Boothtown has filmed a rare black fox from his kitchen window.

“There were two vixens and this black fox. The old vixen she went away and stayed well away for days on end but these two foxes got together and that’s how I got the footage.

“It was 7am in the morning which is very unusual.

“They’ve been down here and I have been watching them. They’ve done all the things of pairing up but they should have done it in January not in June.

“If he’s mated with this young vixen now will it produce cubs in the next nine weeks? Who’s to know?”

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A black fox is in fact a red fox which is going through a phase where the colour of its fur is particularly dark.

The unusual colouring is normally seen on growing cubs before the fox develops its dark chestnut coat, however some red foxes remain black due to a rare genetic flaw, which dates back hundreds of years.