A Fox Has Stolen 32 Shoes (and Counting) in Grand Teton. Rangers Want It to Stop

Several weeks ago, staff members at Grand Teton National Park began receiving reports of a particularly larcenous fox at one of the park’s campgrounds. The fox (or foxes, officials say they’re not entirely sure) was stealing visitors’ shoes, spiriting them off when the campers peeled off their sweaty kicks to air out their feet. When the shoe count reached 19, staffers posted signs warning visitors to keep their footwear in their tents, bear storage boxes, or hard-sided vehicles.

The warning backfired. As the park noted in a video posted on its Instagram account on July 10, some visitors responded to the signs by purposely leaving their shoes out, no doubt hoping to catch a glimpse of the thief. The fox was happy to oblige: As of yesterday, the animal’s take had reached an impressive 32 shoes.

“What does the fox do with the shoes? We still don’t know,” the park wrote in a post accompanying the video, which featured a camper offering a dozen leather boots, high-tops, and flip-flops to a taxidermied stand-in for the animal. “Maybe it’s a toy. Maybe it’s a nesting material collection. Maybe it’s fashion.”

It may sound like a joke, but in a phone call, park spokesperson Emily Davis assured Backpacker that Grand Teton’s fuzzy thief is very real.

“We were trying to educate our visitors in a fun way about this fox and not to habituate it,” Davis said.

Park service experts still aren’t sure why the fox keeps taking the shoes. One theory is that it’s attracted to the salty sweat left inside. It’s also possible that the animal is just playing with them: While shoe theft is unusual behavior for foxes, Davis noted that park personnel found a Kong dog toy in another fox’s den last year.

While the idea of a wild fox building a shoe stash in its den like a tiny Imelda Marcos may seem funny, the potential consequences for the thief are serious. Like other animals that become habituated to humans, foxes that get bold enough to pilfer from campsites risk dangerous encounters with people and vehicles that could shorten their lives. Davis said that hikers and campers in Grand Teton should store their food, cosmetics, and, for now, unworn shoes in bear boxes or other animal-proof containers. The park service also asks visitors to stay at least 100 yards from bears and wolves, and 25 yards from other animals like foxes.

Should you see a fox stealing shoes—or any other animal acting unusually bold around humans in a national park—it’s best to alert rangers so they can address the situation before it escalates. But for now, we hope Grand Teton’s tiniest sneakerhead is enjoying their collection.