32 campers lose shoes in Grand Teton. Now, rangers say sneaky creature to blame
But even after rangers put up signs warning campers not to leave shoes outside their tents, shoes kept going missing.
'A few weeks ago, we started getting reports of a fox stealing shoes from campers,' officials said in a July 10 post on Instagram. 'After 19 shoes went missing, we made signs asking folks to store their footwear in tents, vehicles, or bear boxes. Now? The fox's stash is up to 32.'
The video shows signs saying the fox was 'wanted: for grand theft of footwear' and that it had been '0 days since last fox/shoe incident.' The signs also encouraged campers to report foxes that approached people in an unusually bold manner.
Some campers apparently thought that meant they should leave their shoes out for the fox, the video says.
It's set to an audio snippet of King Julien from the movie 'Madagascar' and shows a taxidermy fox saying it's had enough shoe 'sacrifices.'
'What does the fox do with the shoes? We still don't know,' officials said. 'Maybe it's a toy. Maybe it's a nesting material collection. Maybe it's fashion.'
What they do know is it's more than just a bad habit — it could be putting the fox in danger.
'Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: the more time this fox spends around humans, the more dangerous things get for the fox,' officials said. 'Even unintentional behavior like leaving shoes out 'just in case he visits' teaches wildlife that people = opportunity. And that can lead to relocation … or worse.'
Officials warned against baiting wildlife with belongings.
'Let wildlife be wildlife — not campground mascots,' officials said. 'Scare, don't stare. If a fox shows up, make noise and encourage it to move along. Wild animals need to stay wild.'
In a comment under the post, park officials explain that though the reel 'uses humor to get viewers' attention … the message behind it is serious: feeding or encouraging wildlife (even unintentionally) can put animals at risk.'
'Sometimes, lighthearted storytelling can help people connect with an issue they might otherwise ignore or think doesn't apply to them. But we never mean to make light of the potential consequences,' officials said. 'We truly appreciate and share everyone's concern for the fox's well-being. It's a great reminder of why this message matters!'
A few people confirmed the phenomenon in the comments or shared their experiences with wild thieves at other campgrounds.
'We can confirm!!' someone wrote. 'We camped 2 nights at Lizard Creek last week and the fox got 3 shoes while we were there. One was found down the road, but was pretty useless as the matching shoe was gone forever.'
One person said what was left unsaid in the post.
'Habituation kills animals,' they said. 'It's all cute and fun when a shoe goes missing. When foxes start to ramp up any kind of behavior that scares humans? They can be destroyed.'
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