Delco residents bond over fox thieves in their neighborhood

Tom Acquarola of Media, Pennsylvania, insists he didn’t train foxes to steal his neighbor’s stuff. 

“I’m sure there are plenty of conspiracy theories out there but I can assure you that I have no interest in used shoes,” Tom said. 

The shoes keep ending up in his yard however thanks to crafty foxes that keep snatching them from nearby yards. His wife, Amy Acquarola, starts her day with a shoe search around their home. 

“Sometimes they will literally be sitting on the lawn as a pair,” she said. “Sometimes I find one one day and the other comes the next day.” 

Amy has a neighborhood text chain where she posts pictures of all the shoes she finds. She posts them on Facebook as well. 

“And then people will comment, ‘that’s my shoe! That’s my shoe,’” she said. 

The foxes have a knack for snatching newspapers as well. 

“New York Times. Wall Street Journal. Plenty of circulars,” Tom said. 

Despite the thefts, residents in the neighborhood said they don’t mind the foxes since they haven’t been aggressive or attacked any of their pets. They still don’t approach them however. 

“They’re very skittish which is what we want because obviously we don’t want to domesticate them,” Adrienne, another resident, told NBC10. 

Amy and Tom said the foxes have even brought their neighborhood together since they were first spotted last year, giving them all a reason to interact and laugh. 

“It’s fox season now,” Tom said. “Everybody is back. We are back for another year of the fun and the antics. So yeah, it’s great.”