I tried so hard to impress the keeper with my tidiness that I buried my own sleeping spot under apples. The apples on the tree in my enclosure at the animal rescue centre were ripe, and I was planning a nap on my low wooden platform. The keeper came in to collect the windfalls and set a bucket beside the gate. I picked up an apple and put it on the platform: sometimes a fox wants praise for something other than not stealing. Especially when the human has arrived without a brush and isn’t in a hurry.

“Taras, you’re such a good helper,” she said, picking the apple up off the boards. That was enough. While she carried the full bucket out through the gate, I brought over a second apple, then a third. I carried them carefully, one at a time, so she could see she was dealing with a responsible fox, not simply someone with an available mouth. By the time she returned, there were so many apples on the platform that only my front paws would fit. The rest of me remained on the ground, although all of me had been planning to sleep.

The keeper crouched down to gather apples around the tree, and I decided to fix things before she noticed my awkward position. My wide, empty breakfast bowl was nearby. I nudged the nearest apple into it with my nose. It stayed put. Excellent: the bowl held fruit much better than flat boards did. I moved the rest into it, pushing the last one in with a paw while holding the rim steady with the other. The platform was clear again. There was even room for my tail. I checked this personally and had just started settling down.

Then the keeper brought breakfast. Seeing the full bowl, she put a puzzle feeder beside it and tucked the food into its holes: she would collect the apples after her rounds. I could have emptied the bowl again, but that would mean undoing my freshly completed tidying. So I chose the clean platform and breakfast with extra work attached. I lay on the boards and began fishing pieces out with a paw. The praise had stopped, but apparently my shift as a helper hadn’t.