I recently read Ben Macintyre's brilliant "A Spy Among Friends" and it mentioned an article that appeared in "Country Life" magazine in December 1962 written by a chap who kept a fox as a pet in his Beirut apartment. The fox was a massive hit with (almost) one and all, entertaining guests, eating freshly sliced liver and lapping whiskey from a saucer. One day, he was devastated to arrive back and find the fox gone. Fowl play was - of course - suspected
The Author was H.A.R Philby...but his friends all knew him as "Kim"
https://soundcloud.com/thefuneralcrasher/the-fox-that-came-to-stayThe Fox That Came To Stay
Surfaced in the Lebanon
Captivating everyone
The socialites were all switched on
With effortless panache
Looking, somehow, strangely cute
Dressed only in your birthday suit
Became the toast of old Beirut
Making quite a splash
The sound of laughter fills the air
But trails away when you’re not there
Nonchalant and debonair
At everyone’s request
Eloquent and so discreet
That hearts and minds both skip a beat
Enough to sweep us off our feet
Just like all the rest
Everyone fell
Under your spell
And loved every day
Since you came our way
You played it so well
That no one could tell
And couldn’t say
What price we’d pay
For taking in the fox that came to stay
Nothing happens happenstance
Someone given half a chance
Starts makes the shadows dance
On a mission of their own
So our best friend and nemesis
Is vacating the premises
To leave behind an awful mess
The like we’ve never known
Everyone fell
Under your spell
And been crushed since the day
That you sailed away
You played it so well
That no one could tell
And wouldn’t say
What price we paid
For taking in the fox that came to stay