YOU'VE heard of cats on hot tin roofs, or animals that have gone to ground

YOU'VE heard of cats on hot tin roofs.

Or animals that have gone to ground

But Ipswich has a new first … foxes who enjoy climbing trees.

Carl Clark was surprised when he noticed first one, then two, then three of the striking animals at the back of his Whitby Road garden on Tuesday morning.

What shocked him even more was that the scavengers had climbed about 15ft and were enjoying themselves at the top of the huge bushes at the bottom of their garden.

Mr Clark, 33, watched the creatures with his partner, Donna Martell, and their one-year-old son, Flynn.

He said: “They were beautiful creatures just resting in the sunshine.

“They were just sitting on the hedge, so quite high up. It was cold but they had a good spot in the sun. They stayed up there most of the day just relaxing and looking snug.

“I was a bit concerned because the garden backs on to the allotments and some people might not like having foxes around - but no one seemed to mind.

“I like them, I don't have a reason to dislike them, and it would be nice to see them again.”

Mr Clark said he had seen the red mammals in his garden about a week beforehand, and now thought that a fox den may be underneath the hedge at the back of his garden.

Alec Suttenwood, from Ipswich Wildlife Care and Rescue, said it was not unusual for foxes to clamber up trees.

He said: “Foxes can climb, in fact they are almost as good as cats. They don't do it on a regular basis but if they have got a reason to then they can.

“Foxes are relatively light and are very strong with quite strong claws.

“And they do enjoy the sun a lot. They come out at night because that is best for food, but when they can be in the sun they like to bask in it.”