Man finds fox cub in dishwasher in London home Published duration 9 June 2016

media caption The curious cub was found trapped in the dishwasher, but avoided a soaking

A man was stunned when he found a fox cub trapped inside his dishwasher.

Simon Hayes, 45, from Barnet, north London, was half-way through loading the dishwasher when he got distracted and went into another room.

He returned to the kitchen to find the not-so cunning cub seemingly stuck in the machine among the dirty dishes.

Dr Hayes, a vet, eventually ushered the "bold little thing" out using a broom after it failed to flee from the bottom trolley.

He said: "It was quite a warm evening so I had the back door open. I got distracted and went to do something else - when I came back he was there.

Brush with death

"He was quite a bold little thing but he looked surprised to see me coming.

"He was pretty still and he couldn't work out how to get out."

Dr Hayes moved the bottom rack to let the fox find his own way out, but the cub stayed put.

"Being a vet and not being particularly scared of animals, I tried to coax him out," he said.

As the fox wasn't moving, Dr Hayes used a broom to gently push the animal towards his escape route.

The cub's mother could be heard "calling" it from the garden, he said.

He added: "I was surprised to see him there, but we regularly see foxes nearby.

"We saw three fox cubs in the garden last summer, and we have three cats and a dog and they regularly interact with foxes."

"There is sometimes hysteria about foxes but there was no fear there other than on the fox's part."

Related Topics Barnet