{"id":601112,"date":"2025-11-29T10:43:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T10:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/601112\/"},"modified":"2025-11-29T10:43:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T10:43:21","slug":"turkish-man-forms-unusual-friendship-with-local-foxes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/601112\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkish man forms unusual friendship with local foxes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A retired plumber in Tokat\u2019s Zile district in northern T\u00fcrkiye has formed an unusual bond with local wildlife, feeding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailysabah.com\/life\/science\/looking-for-a-new-pet-siberian-scientists-breeding-foxes-for-pets-eye-human-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">foxes<\/a> by hand at his vineyard home.<\/p>\n<p>A\u015fur Ko\u00e7ak, who retired from Zile Municipality in 2006, noticed foxes appearing around his F\u0131rtman-area vineyard some months ago. He began leaving food for them, and over time, their numbers grew.<\/p>\n<p>The first fox to approach him, which he named \u201cMerdo\u201d for its bravery, now comes close enough to be fed directly from his hands.<\/p>\n<p>                    <a data-fancybox=\"gallery\" href=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/413894.jpg\" data-caption=\"\u201cMerdo,\u201d a local fox, enjoys a daily meal at a vineyard in Tokat, northern T\u00fcrkiye, Nov. 27, 2025. (AA Photo)\"><br \/>\n                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/413894.jpg\" alt=\"\u201cMerdo,\u201d a local fox, enjoys a daily meal at a vineyard in Tokat, northern T\u00fcrkiye, Nov. 27, 2025. (AA Photo)\" onerror=\"this.style.display='none';\"\/><br \/>\n                    <\/a><br \/>\n                     \u201cMerdo,\u201d a local fox, enjoys a daily meal at a vineyard in Tokat, northern T\u00fcrkiye, Nov. 27, 2025. (AA Photo) <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI visit the vineyard every day since I retired,\u201d Ko\u00e7ak told Anadolu Agency (AA). \u201cRecently, foxes started coming. We love them, and they don\u2019t leave us. When the ecological balance is disrupted, these animals naturally go hungry. Otherwise, wild animals wouldn\u2019t come here easily. Merdo started coming closer about six months ago, and now it comes to our table. We feed them meat, bones, and bread every day.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ko\u00e7ak said the foxes have grown accustomed to him and now come with other foxes. \u201cThey don\u2019t run from me anymore. We love them very much. They are part of nature, living beings, and we need to take care of them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The retired man noted that the presence of foxes has affected his ability to raise chickens, but he considers the well-being of the wild animals more important. \u201cI\u2019ve received both positive and negative reactions. Some from nearby villages complained that the foxes take their chickens. But they will have to accept it, because these animals are hungry,\u201d Ko\u00e7ak said.<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/JN9LXf.png\" alt=\"\"\/><\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    The Daily Sabah Newsletter&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    Keep up to date with what\u2019s happening in Turkey,&#13;<br \/>\n                    it\u2019s region and the world.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    &#13;<br \/>\n                    SIGN ME UP&#13;\n                <\/p>\n<p>&#13;<br \/>\n                    You can unsubscribe at any time. By signing up you are agreeing to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.&#13;<br \/>\n                    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.&#13;\n                <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A retired plumber in Tokat\u2019s Zile district in northern T\u00fcrkiye has formed an unusual bond with local wildlife,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":601113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3847],"tags":[933,19161,5698,70,188570,16,15,1717],"class_list":{"0":"post-601112","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-animals","9":"tag-foxes","10":"tag-pets","11":"tag-science","12":"tag-tokat","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-wildlife"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115632578401112819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=601112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/601112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/601113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=601112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=601112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=601112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}