My first night’s sleep on the West Highland Way ended with me waking to the sound of a rustling plastic bag close by. I jumped up and unzipped the tent thinking that gulls might be pecking under the flysheet at bags in my outer tent - only to find a cheeky young fox caught in the act of stealing my snacks for the walk which I had tied inside a shopping bag and left in the outer part of my tent under my cook pot with a small loaf of bread on the bag ready for my breakfast.
Immediately I gave chase, barefoot and in sleeping gear, and as the fox ran for cover in some near by brambles with the bag in it’s mouth, thankfully quite a few snack bars and the loaf fell away from the bag. Perhaps because the bag was rapidly emptying, the fox paused just short of the brambles and gave me such a sneering look; as if to say, ‘You can’t catch me and you won’t get these back!’ before disappearing in the undergrowth to enjoy the remaining feast of Mars bars, chocolate peanuts, cereal bars, dates and apricots. I picked up the stolen property I could retrieve and crawled back into my sleeping bag - it was only 5am!
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