Woman who adopted urban fox in Hampstead 'sad' he's died

Kiki Kendrick, who lives in Mackeson Road, South End Green, met Mr Macky three years ago when she was packing her car to travel to Wales to visit her mother.

The meeting began a friendship that saw Mr Macky escort Kiki and her husband Robin home from the bus stop - with the "brazen" fox once
jumping through their living room window when a plate of food had not been left out for him.

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Kiki said: "I first met Mr Macky three years ago, when packing the car to drive to mum’s in North Wales at 5am. A young cub was playing with a discarded shoe; tossing it up into the air and catching it.

"It was delightful - so ran in to get my phone, but when I came back, all that was left was a chewed shoe.

"After that first encounter, we met more or less every time I was about to drive up to Wales in the early hours, he even tried to get in the car and come with us once."

Mr Macky sunbathing (Image: Kiki Kendrick)

She said that when her mother died, Mr Macky made more frequent appearances, so she began to feed him leftovers - and even gave him his own plate.

"Mr Macky being Mr Macky got that way, and started waiting at the gate for his dinner. Mind you, he crossed the line when service was slightly delayed and he climbed through our living room window and sat on the sofa with that look of “is dinner ready yet' on his face."

The bold fox would even follow Kiki as she was walking her dogs.

"Mr Macky was healthy, handsome and no night owl, I remember him stepping out in South End Green in broad daylight like a millionaire strolling down Bond Street," she added

"But Mackeson Road was his home and my flat was his favourite eatery. 

"He didn’t just live in Mackeson Road, he owned it, so naturally we called him Mr Macky."

But she believes Mr Macky's confidence may ultimately have been his downfall.

"Mr Macky wasn’t like a fox, he wasn’t sly, he didn't hide round corners, he was brazen, head high, afraid of nothing and would roll around in the middle of the road without a care in the world; cars had to drive around him.

"I suppose it was only a matter of time," said Kiki. 

On Tuesday (April 18) Macky met Kiki and Robin at the bus stop like the "concierge" he was.

The following day she put out food for him, but the following morning it was still there.

"I had a feeling something was up," she said. "Even if he didn't like what was on offer he'd tip it out of the bowl, as if to say
'don't give me this again,' so it was always clear he'd been."

Kiki Kendrick (Image: Kiki Kendrick)

A friend then posted a picture of the fox in a WhatsApp group, in which Mr Macky "looked like he was sunbathing" on a piece of cardboard, but he was dead.

"He looked peaceful. Maybe he'd rolled around in front of the wrong car," she added. "It's so sad."

She said a neighbour posted a photo of a vixen and her four cubs who live under their summer house.

The fox Kiki believes may be Mrs Macky, with her cubs (Image: Kiki Kendrick)

"Hopefully Mr Macky will live on in them," she added. 

"RIP Mr Macky. I will leave the last tit-bit out tonight for your journey."