Horror in the UK: A fox entered a house and bit a baby while she was sleeping

A three-month-old baby was attacked by a fox that broke into her family's home in the city of Watford, near London. The animal bit the toddler on the head while she was sleeping in bed next to her mother, who woke up in a panic and discovered her daughter bleeding.

The mother, Carly Clarkson (37), said she woke up to find the fox sniffing her own face, and only then noticed the severe injuries of her daughter, Josephine.

"Imagine waking up and your child's blood is next to you. It was absolutely terrifying," Clarkson recalled the moments of horror in an interview with the British newspaper The Sun.

Four bite wounds were found on the baby's body and head. "The pattern of the injuries looked like a dog had bitten a football," the mother described the horror. After chasing the animal out of the room, Clarkson rushed to check on her second daughter, about a year old, who was sleeping in an adjacent room, and found her unharmed.

The door leading to the garden had been left open.

The family rushed to the hospital, where doctors determined that the baby did not suffer a skull fracture or brain damage. The baby was treated with antibiotics and received a tetanus shot. Clarkson suspects that the fox even tried to drag the toddler, and believes that their sleeping position is what prevented much more serious injuries.

"I don't feel safe in my own home with two small children," the mother said. She explained that the door leading to the garden was left open to ventilate the house, and she never imagined that a fox would break in and go up the stairs to the upper floor. Security cameras on the property recorded the animal entering the house, and the incident was reported to local authorities.

"A young and curious fox"

A British wildlife expert defined the incident as "extremely rare." Trevor Williams, founder of The Fox Project, noted that he had not heard of a similar case in a decade, according to a report by the BBC. He estimates that it was likely a young and curious fox, as adult foxes usually avoid close contact with humans. "As distressing as this case was for the mother, fortunately the child only suffered superficial injuries," he added.

Clarkson concluded and warned against the boldness shown by wild animals in residential areas: "We were very lucky to get out of this with only shots and antibiotics, and I would hate to find out that someone else was not as lucky as we were. The foxes in the neighborhood have become accustomed to the presence of humans and have become too comfortable near houses."