Meet Rua, the pet fox on a Westmeath farm!

Roald Dahl's 'Fantastic Mr Fox' might just have a female rival on a Westmeath farm, where a young fox has been adopted as a beloved pet!

A local man found 'Rua' alone as a cub in 2019 and later took her to the Tullaghansleek Stud farm in Castletown Geoghegan, where she is now being looked after by former Our Lady's Bower student, Fiona Carey (27).

The timid but playful fox has made herself at home on the farm and might even become a bit of an internet celebrity, as she now has her own Instagram page (@sionnach_rua).

"She was found as a cub, and we don't know what happened to her. She was either abandoned by her mother or her mother had died, but she was found in a ditch and was only a little baby at the time," explains Fiona.

"We got her when she was about three months, and she was so tiny. We then kept her for a year because she was too small to let out, and you couldn't really let her loose in case she'd get lost, or go wandering.

"So we kept her in captivity, and then last July we opened the stable door to let her off, and she just hung around!"

The 'full room and board' she receives on the farm might have influenced her decision to stay put, and another factor might have been the friendships she's made with some of the other inhabitants, including one of the dogs, Judy.

"Rua has a grand old life here! She sleeps out where we have our straw, so she's very cosy. She'll come out in the morning when we're feeding, and will wander around, and then she'll go back in for the day," says Fiona.

"She will then come out in the evening and come to the door to get her dinner or play with the dogs.

"If I was going out to the horses, or out for a walk, she will follow. She's really cute. She's like a little dog - she wags her tail and is always rolling over.

"She gets on really well with the dogs, and grew up with Judy. When we kept Rua in, Judy used to come to the stable and they'd have the absolute craic together! It's so funny to see.

"Judy had puppies a few months ago, and Rua would play with the puppies as well."

While her diet is varied, Rua has a particular fondness for chicken and potatoes.

"She eats everything. She eats dog food, and she loves everything, but potatoes and chicken are her favourite," Fiona says.

"Any time I feed her potatoes or chicken she'd nearly take the fingers off you! While she's not vicious at all, she does get really excited. But she'd eat out of my hand, no problem."

The Instagram page, featuring photos and videos of Rua, was created at the suggestion of one of Fiona's cousins.

"My cousin told me to make an Instagram page for her, because I kept posting pictures (online) and people were asking, 'Do you have a pet fox?' And I thought, yeah, I suppose you would call her a pet!"

While she seems comfortable on the farm, Rua, quite fittingly for these times, practises social distancing when strangers appear.

"She's really timid, so when there are strangers around she's very wary of them. When it's just us, she'll come over, but if I have a friend with me she has no interest and she'll keep her distance," Fiona says.

Having a fox as a pet is certainly unusual, and Fiona says she's not aware of anyone else who has one.

"In general, people wouldn't be used to seeing foxes up so close. Most people are curious when they hear about it, but everyone loves Rua," she adds.