A fox at Twickenham, a lynx on the ski sklopes – and a tiger on the football pitch
After darting towards the 22-metre line, the star turn on the pitch at Twickenham spoiled a promising debut by panting with exertion and skulking behind the pre-match band. The fox that enlivened the Six Nations rugby match between England and Scotland on Sunday was the latest of many wild animals to, ahem, dog great sporting occasions.
Stewards eventually shooed the fox away from the stadium after it had twice appeared on the pitch, trotting to the BBC commentary box in between, but perhaps Twickenham should arrange a better evacuation plan for its vulpine fans. This time last year, during a match against Ireland, another fox scampered along the top of the advertising hoardings within touching distance of fans.
Cyclists are familiar with races being disrupted by runaway horses and marauding sheep while golfers are used to being badgered by squirrels and deer (and the occasional birdie). Pigeons stopping play at Lord’s is as quintessential a summer sight as the birds that fall victim to the wallop of a tennis ball. But Olympic skiers could be forgiven for rubbing their goggles when a lynx trotted across the slopes of Whistler before the men’s downhill in the Winter Games last year.
In 2009, Wimbledon was invaded by a rare white- letter hairstreak butterfly, which was pictured on court during play. There is no escape at night either: moths have distracted competitors at the Melbourne Open.In football, most animal invaders are dogs or cats, and the odd pig or cockerel, smuggled in as mascots. More alarming was Obilic Belgrade’s mascot, a tiger cub, which romped over the pitch before the game against Bayern Munich.
Accidental deaths, such as Yorkshire cricketer Jacques Rudolph’s pigeon-killing throw (in front of the Dickie Bird stand, of course), are usually forgiven by spectators. But Deportivo Pereira footballer Luis Moreno faced death threats after last month booting a barn owl off the pitch in Colombia. The tame owl, which was a mascot for Atletico Junior, later died and fans chanted “murderer” at Moreno, who was forced to apologise to the whole of Colombia. – guardian.co.uk