Grand Teton National Park Asks Campers To Not Leave Shoes Outside After 32 Pairs Were 'Stolen' by a Fox

A funny incident took place when the Grand Teton National Park started getting reports of foxes stealing campers' shoes. After continuous complaints, the park put up multiple signs informing the visitors to keep their shoes inside the tents to prevent such an incident from recurring. As reported by Outdoors, this initiative by the national park had accidentally increased the number of stolen shoes. The news was also shared on the park's account, @grandtetonnps, and grabbed a lot of attention, reaching more than 436K views and 15.2K likes. 

What the park assumed would curb the behavior instead boosted the total number of stolen shoes, and the fox's collection grew from 19 to 32. Apparently, according to the park, the reason behind the surge was numerous campers who took the incident as an opportunity to witness the foxes. They deliberately started keeping their footwear outside their tents to catch a glimpse of the foxes. 

The Grand Teton National Park shared the details of the incident on their post, with the caption, "A few weeks ago, we started getting reports of a fox stealing shoes from campers. After 19 shoes went missing, we made signs asking folks to store their footwear in tents, vehicles, or bear boxes. Now? The fox’s stash is up to 32. What does the fox do with the shoes? We still don’t know." 

The rangers at Grand Teton further talked about the impact of the amusing incident in the caption, sharing what kind of effect such behavior can have on the foxes. They stated, "Whatever the reason, one thing is clear: the more time this fox spends around humans, the more dangerous things get for the fox. Even unintentional behavior like leaving shoes out 'just in case he visits' teaches wildlife that people = opportunity. And that can lead to relocation or worse."

Sadly, habituation like this can be dangerous. Foxes that learn to instantly associate people with food or shoes, in this case, only get bolder around visitors. In parks such as Grand Teton, such incidents can often end tragically for the wildlife. When it becomes evident that animals have no fear of humans, they are more likely to be euthanized for posing public safety risks. 

Many internet users had a mixed reaction to the post and left their opinions, as well as similar experiences, in the comment section. @themaryvee wrote, "We can confirm! We camped 2 nights at Lizard Creek last week and the fox got 3 shoes while we were there. One was found down the road, but was pretty useless as the matching shoe was gone forever." @solanapete shared, "Had a similar experience with coyotes while camping at Magdalena Bay several years back." @harrichr joked, "You’ve heard of elf on the shelf, now get ready for fox in some crocs." @_l_mede exclaimed, "Why would you leave your shoes outside? Anything could make it a home real quick."

For more fun and informative animal content, follow @grandtetonnps on their Instagram account.