When you housesit, you should expect some written instructions on, say, where the cat food is, how to operate the finicky furnace, and when to water the flowers in the backyard. What you probably don’t inspect are step-by-step instructions for feeding the surrounding wildlife, but that’s exactly what one Scottish woman’s father left for her when he went on a Christmas vacation.
In an under-the-wire contender for the most charming tweet of the year, Amy Macmillan of East Kilbride, Scotland, wrote about her dad befriending a fox that’s been visiting his front yard for months. The genesis of their relationship appears to be the dad faithfully providing him with two meals a day,
He didn’t want his friend to go hungry in his absence, so Macmillan’s dad left her detailed instructions on how to feed his buddy.
Ma dad has lost the plot 😭 he’s been feeding a random fox in the front garden for months and has actual pinned up written instructions on how av to feed it whilst he’s on holiday 😭 pic.twitter.com/tarw1RgAr6
— Amy Macmillan (@amymacmillanX) December 23, 2019
She even got him a joke present, a stuffed fox keychain, and in a move 10 out of 10 dads would make he attached it to his backpack and sent the picture to her.
Bought him a fox keyring as part of his Christmas as a joke “ incase he misses it whilst he’s away” and he’s just sent me this 😭🦊 a canny pic.twitter.com/52mLlbypZc
— Amy Macmillan (@amymacmillanX) December 23, 2019
Macmillan’s tweet has gone viral, with nearly 20,000 likes and over 1,300 retweets. And in a strange twist for Twitter, the comments are pretty much all delightful.
Awww, your Dad’s sweet, to make sure his fox friend still gets fed properly while he’s away.
— Anastasia (@Starshadw) December 24, 2019
He sounds a lovely man, you should be very proud of him.
— Christine Slimm (@chrissies141) December 24, 2019
Macmillan’s tweet even inspired a dad joke or two, which seems quite appropriate.
Fir foxsake😂
— Dougie I Love Katic 🇭🇷 (@54Beats44) December 24, 2019
And, amazingly, other folks shared pictures of their own backyard friends.
Imagine feeding a fox…..and a badger 👀🦡🦊 pic.twitter.com/Yu6LKIQsj7
— Mark D (@markrhysdavies) December 24, 2019