Sam the Trinity fox and brief pandemic celebrity has died, having spent his final few weeks in an animal sanctuary.
The fox became famous in campus lore and newspaper images during the Covid-19 lockdown for his nightly patrols of the Trinity College Dublin grounds and environs as well as occasional ventures into Temple Bar.
Reports abounded of the fox socialising from a safe distance with students and tutors, even following joggers, whose property the fox frequently appropriated.
Some discussion surrounded the actual gender of Sam the Trinity fox, with The Irish Times and other devoted followers declaring “she” had become a mother, giving birth to five fox cubs in the Provost’s garden in April 2021.
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Sam was immortalised – as a male – by the poet Derek Mahon. The poet’s posthumously published collection Washing Up (Gallery Press, 2022) includes A Fox in Grafton Street, commemorating one of Sam’s late-evening trips to the city’s premier retail bins.
Sam had a distinctive mark on a rear leg from an early brush with a car. The fox was hit again before Christmas.
Collie Ennis, biodiversity officer with Trinity College, said Sam’s physical gender was established early on. But, he said, it mattered not whether Sam or his partner, who predeceased him, had given birth to the fox cubs.
[ Sam the Trinity fox gives birth to five cubs on campus groundsOpens in new window ]
Mr Ennis enjoyed his nightly sightings of Sam at the Lincoln Place gate, where he left out some tuna.
In January or early February Mr Ennis noticed Sam was becoming lethargic and getting thin. Injuries sustained in a recent traffic incident seemed to have affected him heavily, and Mr Ennis called in Kildare Wildlife Rescue.
Sam spent his last few weeks in comfort at the animal sanctuary before it became clear that in the wild he would continue to dwindle and likely die of mange, which can be fatal for foxes, and starvation. “In the end the only ethical and kind decision was taken to put Sam down to spare him a horrible death,” he said.
“It would be nice if there was a minute’s silence for Sam at the Trinity Ball at the weekend,” he mused.
