A couple love to feed the foxes who visit them daily biscuits – and have even affectionately named them.<br /><br />Pete Barrett, 50, and his wife, Lucy, 48, spot the beautiful animals every morning – curled up on their garden path.<br /><br />When the couple open the door, the foxes sit three feet away but are eager to lap up the dog treats Pete gives them.<br /><br />Pete has named the foxes Fred, Freddy and Freddie and says Fred – who has white tips on his ears – will even take a treat from his hand.<br /><br />Freddy has black ear tips and will come within a few feet but is still scared to be handfed.<br /><br />The pair only see Freddie - who they believe is a parent of the cubs - a few times a week and they will only get within 10ft. <br /><br />Pete, a retired civil servant, from Hornchurch, Essex, said: “They turn up every morning.<br /><br />“I look forward to it every day.<br /><br />“It’s great fun but the dog hates them.<br /><br />“I treat them to biscuits and named them Fred, Freddy and Freddie.<br /><br />“They are very cheeky and very cute.”<br /><br />Pete and Lucy, a carer, have been visited by foxes for the last six years but have started feeding the cubs in the last year.<br /><br />Pete said: “I think their den is nearby.<br /><br />“They turn up about 6.30am and curl up and sleep on the path.<br /><br />“When I open the door, they come and sit about 5ft away waiting.<br /><br />“Fred looks like the youngest and will come up and take a treat from your hand if you sit still.<br /><br />“Freddy will only come within about 3ft.<br /><br />“I think it is two cubs and a parent and they hang around for half an hour or so each morning.”<br /><br />The cheeky foxes have even been caught trying to follow Pete on a dog walk with Labrador mix, Chloe, and even stole a loaf of bread and TV guide from his shopping bag.<br /><br />Lucy loves the foxes visiting too and even took over feeding them when Pete was recovering from a broken leg.<br /><br />Now retired due to health issues, Pete loves snapping the foxes posing at his back door.<br /><br />He said: “They are very cute.”
