By Guy O’Connell
A wild animal again roams Fitzrovia. It is perhaps the largest untamed mammal seen ’round these parts since building started on the ancient hunting grounds we at FN call home. It has so far eluded capture on camera, despite the best efforts of your correspondent, whose account follows.
At around 10.30pm on New Year’s Eve, as revellers headed to the many bars around Fitzrovia, a small brown dog circled Fitzroy Square. A large moon hung in the last skies of 2015. In the silvery glow, the dog’s companion spotted the distinctive red brush of a fox. It flicked slightly as the animal’s tongue licked at a puddle beneath the large road sign marked “Fitzroy Square” on the north east corner of the famous London landmark.
What a photo! The fox raised its head; its own eyes meeting the camera’s as its long sleek body followed the line of the street sign. All was framed perfectly — fox, and Fitzroy Square.
The animal stayed proud at its puddle for sixty seconds or more, allowing multiple shots perfect for the front page of FN and perhaps for many a year to come on the walls of our many readers homes.
But the wily animal perhaps knew what the human did not … the camera failed to record a single foxy frame. The fox of Fitzroy Square had not been shot.
So your correspondent offers a pint in a Fitzrovian pub to the human who can capture the best photo of the carnivore in Fitzroy Square before the end of January.
Send us your picture to news@fitzrovia.org.uk or tweet us @FitzroviaNews or post to our Facebook page.