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A mystery

(28 Posts)
JamesandJon33 Mon 24-Feb-25 13:49:50

Digging over a patch of garden this morning, I unearthed a whole, unbroken , brown egg, with the lion stamp. We are quite rural, but our garden is hedged all around. I cannot think how it might have got there. Any ideas ?

monk08 Mon 24-Feb-25 13:51:56

A fox we get them regularly have since found out a neighbour puts them out for it.

JamesandJon33 Mon 24-Feb-25 13:55:57

Would a fox bury them though? To go back for?

Silverbrooks Mon 24-Feb-25 13:58:46

A fox has stolen or scavenged it from somewhere. It must have managed to find a way in. My neighbours have a tall Leylandii at the rear of their garden. Foxy likes to sit on top and sunbathe.

Last year, I found a boxed Fortnum's Chocolate Bunny buried in the big tub where I grow spuds. I can only assume it was "acquired" from an Easter Egg hunt. It was in-date and delicious!

monk08 Mon 24-Feb-25 14:03:28

Yes we have seen him in the garden burying and retrieving them.

AuntieE Mon 24-Feb-25 14:10:14

JamesandJon33

Would a fox bury them though? To go back for?

I have known a fox that had raided a henhouse and carefully buried the hens he, or more likely she could not eat in one go, up to their necks in the ground. This way she kept them alive and fresh until she and her cubs wanted them.

It did not work because the hens' owner found them and rescued them.

So, I find it entirely believable that a fox might bury an egg that was surplus to immediate requirement intending to fetch it in a day or so.

Wheniwasyourage Mon 24-Feb-25 14:14:22

Quite obviously, you have underground hens, JamesandJon33. Keep digging and you may be able to stock up on eggs.

Churchview Mon 24-Feb-25 14:47:45

We have this too. Eggs in the ground and in pots. Horrid if you put a trowel through a very old egg. I am sure it's foxes.

BlueBelle Mon 24-Feb-25 15:51:36

So where is the fox getting ‘stamped eggs’ from do you mean he comes in your house opens up the fridge and takes a lion stamped egg out, leaves the house and buries it ????
Or
Are you throwing whole lion stamped eggs away in an easily ‘got to’ bin?????

JamesandJon33 Mon 24-Feb-25 17:13:57

The fox gets nothing from us. Squirrels, apple cores etc and the birds have fat balls I don’t put ‘food’ out, leftovers etc, as they attract rats.

Nandalot Mon 24-Feb-25 17:22:39

I hate to tell you,*JamesandJon33*, but the fat balls can attract =rats.

RosieandherMaw Mon 24-Feb-25 17:39:31

Rats I think
Have you never read Charlotte's Web?

SueDonim Mon 24-Feb-25 17:42:57

I once found a whole egg in an outdoor plant container. It had been neatly buried, the surrounding plants and bulbs had not been disturbed. The Foxy Gentleman buried it very skilfully.

Everdene Mon 24-Feb-25 18:01:13

People who feed foxes regularly often leave out whole eggs for them.

BlueBelle Mon 24-Feb-25 18:24:41

But the question I m asking is how would a fox / rat or whatever get a shop bought egg to hide would it go indoors and open the fridge .
I can understand a fox could get an egg out of a hen house or hen enclosure but then it wouldn’t have a lion on it 🤣🤣🤣

Deedaa Mon 24-Feb-25 20:00:52

I love the thought of the Easter bunny Silverbrooks but just as well you found it.I expect chocolate would be as poisonous for a fox as it would for a dog.

flappergirl Mon 24-Feb-25 20:07:37

It could very well have got it from a house or maybe they were past their sell by date and someone put them out for wild animals. A neighbour found a whole unwrapped pack of butter buried in her garden which was obviously the work of a fox. Foxes bury food just like dogs bury bones so they can return later.

Churchview Mon 24-Feb-25 20:24:56

I wonder if people put stamped eggs in their compost bins along with their household food scraps. Perhaps the foxes steal them from there.

Shelflife Mon 24-Feb-25 21:13:25

A few years ago I found a chicken carcass buried in my rose garden, definitely the work of a fox.

Redrobin51 Mon 24-Feb-25 22:03:07

I should say a fox. We have a 6' 6" fence andI have see it leapt on top of it with ease. I also saw one trotting up our close with something in its mouth and it turned out to be an egg and it buried it in a neighbours flower pot. I've had several buried in thr large container in my front garden. Supposedly they adore eggs.

Silverbrooks Mon 24-Feb-25 22:51:31

Deedaa

I love the thought of the Easter bunny Silverbrooks but just as well you found it.I expect chocolate would be as poisonous for a fox as it would for a dog.

Yes, chocolate is toxic to foxes.

Bunny was in a sturdy box. This is the product:

tinyurl.com/yeymcyrc

The box was a bit soggy where it had been in the soil but I could see the expiry date which was recent. It was encased in a bed of straw and in good condition.

Nothing else other than a fox could have put it there unless I have squirrels working in pairs like removal men!

AuntieE Tue 25-Feb-25 13:19:31

BlueBelle

But the question I m asking is how would a fox / rat or whatever get a shop bought egg to hide would it go indoors and open the fridge .
I can understand a fox could get an egg out of a hen house or hen enclosure but then it wouldn’t have a lion on it 🤣🤣🤣

What are the supermarkets' bins like near you?

Here any sensible fox can go "dumpster diving" after closing time and find plenty of good food, as can homeless or impecunious humans.

Liz08 Tue 25-Feb-25 13:26:38

Foxes will steal anything. A couple of summers ago I was passing our bedroom window and saw a fox about to enter the kitchen. I shouted but it just looked at me. I happened to have a new boxed tube of toothpaste in my hand so aimed it near the fox to scare it.
I rushed down stairs to find the fox gone - and my toothpaste!
I kept looking for that fox with it's cheeky white smile but never saw him again 😁

Nannan2 Tue 25-Feb-25 15:24:49

Liz08 🤣😂🤣

mum2three Tue 25-Feb-25 15:30:06

How interesting, I didn't know foxes buried things. I am still wondering how a large number of hazel nuts found their way into my plant pots. I know that squirrels bury things but I'm surrounded by houses and have never seen any squirrels here.