 "Photo: Erin Flanagan")
Erin Flanagan quietly was working in her office when an electrical engineering professor approached her and told her about a large, mysterious creature in a tree outside the professor's window.
When Flanagan and others in the Texas Tech Electrical Engineering Building raced to the window to peer into the tree, Flanagan said she was shocked when she caught a glimpse of the creature.
"That's a fox," she said. "So I ran and grabbed my camera."
After several recent reports of Tech students spotting foxes on campus, Tech police and animal services experts confirmed the reports and urge students to not be afraid of the animals if they are spotted.
Flanagan, a Tech academic adviser and part-time accounting student from Lubbock, said she was not frightened by the elusive creature, but she worried about whether the fox would be able to escape from its lofty position.
"The entire engineering department was looking at the window to watch the fox," she said. "I was concerned for the fox. It looked tired and confused. It looked like it was scared and didn't know how to get down from the tree."
Flanagan said she contacted Lubbock Animal Services and a representative informed her foxes often climb trees and know how to climb down.
"They told me it would come down when it was ready," she said.
It was strange to be able to look outside a window
and see a wild animal on campus, she said.
"I'd expect to see a fox at Ransom Canyon or somewhere like that," Flanagan said. "But not in a tree on the Tech campus."
Maj. Gordon Hoffman of the Tech Police Department said police have had several reports over the years of foxes being spotted on campus.
"We normally spot them at Jones (AT&T) Stadium," Gordon said. "Many reports come right before kick-off of Tech football games."
Hoffman said he has not received a report of the foxes attacking people at the stadium.
"One time, the Lubbock Animal Services were contacted to remove a fox from the student section," Hoffman said. "It ran all the way to the top of the section and almost jumped off the ledge but was caught just in time."
Hoffman said the Tech police have had at least six reports of foxes spotted at Tech football games over the past two years. He said he believes the foxes built a home somewhere inside Jones AT&T Stadium, but there is no police investigation to eliminate the animals from the area - mainly because they are too hard to catch.
Hoffman said one reason foxes emerge from different places on the Tech campus is their habitat was destroyed when the Overton area east of Jones AT&T Stadium was leveled for construction.
Laura Forsythe, supervisor for Lubbock Animal Services, said two foxes have been caught on the Tech campus. She said her office receives reports of foxes, coyotes and porcupines from all over the Hub City.
Forsythe said she recalls the time a fox raced to the top of the stadium's student section and nearly jumped off the ledge.
"One was caught with a trap using hot dogs for bait," Forsythe said. "The other was the one we caught at the top of the student section."
She said while the destruction of nearby habitats is one reason for the recent fox sighting, the foxes also migrate to search for a constant source of food and water, which can be found in the city.
She said foxes can carry rabies, but an attack would be highly unlikely.
"However, they will defend themselves," Forsythe said.
If a Tech student does come across a fox on campus, Forsythe said to not approach the animal, but rather call Lubbock Animal Services and to enjoy its presence.
"They are actually really neat creatures to be around," she said. "So kick back and watch the fox."
Flanagan said she agrees foxes are innocently entertaining and the fox sighting was a delightful pause from her work-filled day.
"It stayed up there for most of the day," she said. "It slept for awhile, but it was great. It was everyone's entertainment for the day."
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