They may be considered a pest but, love them or hate them, it’s not often you’ll get this close to a fox in Perth - let alone one cheeky enough to steal your footwear.

Spearwood’s Elisabeth Slater captured her unique encounter with a fox on a Fremantle beach on camera, complete with footage of the moment the brazen animal ran off with one of her thongs.

Ms Slater did not want to reveal the exact location of the beach because of fears someone might “want to harm” the fox but says the animal ran towards her from the dunes about 9pm on Monday.

“My husband was fishing so I was just walking down the beach and (the fox) was by the dunes about 50 metres away. He just came to me,” she said.

“I was so excited, there was no fear at all and as soon as I saw him I started to film it because I wanted to show people.”

Ms Slater’s footage shows the animal sniffing the camera before making a grab for her thong and darting into the dunes.

When she chased the animal to retrieve it, the fox took a swipe at her knee.

“I thought it was hilarious. I rarely see foxes, I’ve probably seen only two or three in my life so it was just amazing,” she said.

However, the footage has received a mixed response from internet users, who pointed out the animal is an introduced species.

“Sure that was a gorgeous video, but like cats they are damaging our environment,” one Facebook user wrote.

While others were envious Ms Slater had managed to get so close to an animal with a reputation for being elusive.

“I love foxes, would love to have an encounter like this,” another wrote.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development said the red fox, an introduced species to Australia, has now “adapted to both rural and urban areas of WA”.

She also urged anyone else who spots one to report it’s location using the national recording tool, FoxScan