Tucked among grassy hills on the southern coast of England stands an idyllic little village that seems plucked from a storybook. Replete with charming houses, shops, a railway station and even a cricket field, the village’s residents enjoy lifestyles
of comfort and peace.
That is, until recently.
Life at the Southsea Model Village, a 1/12 scale miniature world open to guests, just got scary.
In just the last few weeks, the model village has been hit with an escalating series of invasions, which have damaged infrastructure and left countless tiny residents maimed and disfigured.
The perpetrators have shown no mercy.
Earlier this week, a security camera at the edge of the village captured one recent pillage at the hands of the persistent marauders — a group of playful foxes.
No one is safe.
“We’ve had a fox problem since we started running the place 10 years ago … but the problem has gotten worse in the last few months,” Mark Wilson, the full-sized owner of Southsea Model Village, told The Dodo. “They usually just sunbathe and relax, but there are now a few youngsters who like to cause mischief.”
Why the recent uptick in fox-led raids? Wilson has a theory.
“We think it is the material I 3-D print our models with,” Wilson said. “It’s meant to be corn-based, so it will attract the wildlife. I will be changing to a different type of material to see if it makes a difference.”
The townspeople’s lives depend on it.
Though there have been more than a few fatalities among the miniature townspeople, Wilson is taking things in stride. Rather than try to ward off the foxes, he’s decided to let them do their thing.
Wilson even set out a water bowl to keep them hydrated, guarded by a little fox in the scale of the village they visit.
In time, as the young foxes grow up and begin exploring elsewhere, the fluffy scourge will likely abate. Until that day, however, life in the little village will remain delightfully unpredictable.
