The UK’s largest fox killed on a Scottish farm

Britain's largest fox was shot dead on a farm in Aberdeenshire, Scotland on Monday, BBC News reported. 

The animal weighed 38 pounds and was 4"9 from its nose to the tip of its tail, according to the BBC. The average fox weighs around 15 pounds.

The fox was shot and killed by farmer Alan Hepworth, who is only about 5"7 himself, who was keeping an eye out for his lambs with his son,The Daily Mail reported. 

"We have to shoot foxes to keep on top of them, and stop them from killing the lambs," Hepworth explained to the Daily Mail. "It was late at night, and this particular fox caught our eye because it was such an incredible size. […] When we went over to pick it up, we were amazed by quite how big it was. I could only hold it for a while because it was so heavy and was nearly as big as a roe deer." 

“A 35lb fox would have been unthinkable a few years ago," Jonathan Reynolds, senior research scientist at the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, told the Daily Telegraph. "We don’t know why they are getting bigger, but one possible explanation is that they are getting better fed in urban areas.”

The previous record for the largest fox killed was a 26.5lb fox caught by vet Keith Talbot at his parents’ home in Maidstone, Kent in 2010, the Telegraph reported.

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