“We are currently being followed,” a Philadelphia woman announces in a TikTok, sounding more amused than alarmed. “We being me and the dog.”
Then she reveals what is following her—a little red fox who seems to have no intention of admitting it’s trailing behind.
Erin (@bingo.mode) explains that she and her dog, Jess, had attracted the unexpected companion while walking through a cemetery.
“We are being followed through the cemetery by a little fox,” she says. She pans to a reddish-brown fox with a bushy, white-capped tail making its way alongside a paved path, rows of gravestones stretching beyond it.
“And every time I turn around, she’s like, ‘No, I’m not following you,’” Erin jokes. “But she’s been there.”
“And Jess is being very good,” she says of her dog. “But we’re being followed by a little fox.”
Why would a fox follow someone?
A fox that appears to be following someone isn’t necessarily interested in that person at all. According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, if you find a fox following you, “you are likely on the same path it follows through its territory.” The agency advises people not to panic and to “simply move away from the path and monitor the fox.”
It also notes that “seeing a fox during daytime is normal.”
“[A] fox that maintains fear of humans … will be less likely to cause conflicts,” the organization said.
Humane World for Animals, formerly the Humane Society of the United States, also agrees that foxes typically avoid humans. They tend to flee instead of fight. The organization adds that foxes that appear unafraid or bold have “probably learned to associate people with food…likely because someone has been feeding them.”
They aren’t dangerous and can be scared away with loud noises or water hoses.
Viewers had a few other hypotheses, though, with one writing, “You’re being followed by a spirit. Foxes can open fairy doors and spirit passageways.”
They claimed that Jess “was being good because the spirit was a calming gentle one.”
Another viewer wrote that in Native American traditions, the fox is “an observant, resourceful helper and teacher.”
“[It] moves quietly and teaches you to look before you act,” they said.
Many viewers said they were relieved to see a wary fox instead of a man. One user said, “I was prepared for you to point the camera to a creepy man but pleasant surprise.” Another commenter asked, “Why did I feel better knowing it was a FOX AND NOT A MAN???”
Philadelphia’s urban fox population
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Veterinary Medicine have been documenting the city’s urban animal populations through their Accessing Urban Nature Initiative. The project has captured photos of red foxes on trail cameras, with researchers noting that foxes are the most common wild animal they see after squirrels and raccoons.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission estimates that high-use agricultural areas with little cover for wildlife have “one fox per 300 acres, or 2.1 foxes per square mile.” Wooded areas have “one fox per 50 acres or 12.8 per square mile,” which the agency calls “a high concentration.”
@bingo.mode
Subplot News reached out to Erin via TikTok direct message.
