It’s a tale so unusual, you know it couldn’t have been fabricated. Tommy Fox of Dover, Tenn., hit a red fox with his SUV while driving home at night. Fox tossed the fox in his vehicle’s back seat with the intent of removing its tail later for a keepsake. But when the two-legged Fox continued down the road, the four-legged fox, which was only stunned by Mr. Fox’s truck, suddenly sprang back to life, with an attitude to boot. The man threw a blanket over the biting, snarling animal to keep it from climbing in the front seat, but in doing so, lost control of his vehicle and flipped it in a ditch.

Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency wildlife officer Dale Grandstaff said Mr. Tommy Fox received medical treatment at the scene and was not seriously injured. Mr. Red Fox was not as fortunate. He was pronounced dead — this time, positively. There’s no word on the current whereabouts of his tail.