A Scottish man who was convinced a “militant vegan” neighbour had been pinching his doorstep milk deliveries has discovered the real thief was a furry friend.
Gordon Campbell, 42, from Bearsden near Glasgow, decided to mount a camera surveillance operation at his home after bottles kept vanishing over the course of a month.
Mr Campbell, who works in digital advertising for his firm Clickboost, initially suspected a ‘militant vegan’ with an anti-dairy agenda was responsible for the disappearances.
However, the footage from his sting captured an altogether different offender sneaking up to his doorstep in the early hours… an urban fox.
The 42-year-old had been receiving doorstep milk deliveries since the Covid pandemic but was forced to halt the service and return to buying from the supermarket after the repeated thefts.
Before setting up his camera, Mr Campbell had pointed the finger at the local magpie population.
“The magpies got the blame for a while, as they’re really smart birds, but I was thinking they probably wouldn’t have the strength to roll a bottle away,” he said.
Gordon Campbell set up a camera to find out who had ben stealing his milk (stock image)
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On Sunday evening, he laid his trap, filling a spare glass bottle with shop-bought milk and placing it on the doorstep as bait.
The culprit struck just hours later, appearing after 2.30am on Monday.
Mr Campbell was charmed rather than angered when he reviewed the footage.
“I just thought it was kind of hilarious that this wee, cute fox was popping up and taking it away,” he said.
An urban fox was to blamed for the thefts, which Mr Campbell found quite amusing when he discovered (stock image)
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The fox’s appearance earned it an immediate pardon.
“All was forgiven when I saw its big ears and its wee face,” he added.
With the mystery now solved, Mr Campbell is considering restarting his doorstep deliveries. He plans to provide a container to keep the bottles safe from his four-legged visitor.
“I may resume my milk delivery knowing who’s responsible, but I may put out a box or something for the milkman to put it in,” he said.
The fox’s milk-snatching exploits were not its first attempt to make itself at home at the Campbell residence.
Some months prior, the animal had tried to enter the house through the cat flap, only to be seen off by the family’s cat, Bruce.
Footage from that earlier incident captured Bruce sprinting after the intruder and chasing it through the garden.
“The fox essentially tried to get into the cat flap, and the cat came and chased it away,” Mr Campbell said.