Angel
Golden Fur, Golden Personality
I'm not biased, but Angel has the smoothest, fluffiest, densest, most golden fur out of all of our golden foxes. Like, it's not even a debate. She has such an eye for detail and spends hours on end making sure her fur is as glamorous as she can possibly get it. It's something I admire, as I like to spend a fair amount of time in the mornings trying to make myself look somewhat pleasant, only for it to be ruined when I step into the sooty furball enclosure.
Best Friends Forever
It was the first day of work here for me when I met Angel. Sandra was showing me the ropes, and the golden foxes were the first animals we fed. She was going on and on about how the foxes are really naughty and love to trick the zookeepers and escape, so I was terrified. We walked in the enclosure, Angel took one sniff of me, and sat down right on my feet! Sandra didn't know what the hell to do, it was hilarious.
Ever since then Angel has always listened to everything I say, always beg for cuddles, all the while every other zookeeper struggles to keep her enclosed. Genuinely, I hear of her escapes twice a week maybe? With me, nothing. I love it. I love her.
(I am so sorry that my staff photo (to the left) does not feature me and Angel - I was half-asleep at 6am in the morning when they asked me to come take a photo, so I chose a random animal to take a picture with instead of thinking.)
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Face of the Zoo
While it was risky to put a known escape artist as the face of the A To Zoo, Rox still did it. Angel was known as the A to Zoo's Mascot for three glorious years, which brought in quadrillions of visitors from around the Yonderverse to come look at her. Angel's face was plastered on billboards on so many planets, skylights in space, you name it. As it turns out, having a rebellious fox as a mascot does wonders.
Angel became the star of the zoo, even earning herself her own talk show. I say talk show; zookeepers filmed her screaming her lungs out and posted it on social media, garnering millions of likes and trillions of views per video. Even I got some attention for it. As the only zookeeper she listened to, I was put in charge of her enclosure for the duration of Angel being the Zoo's Mascot, which meant I was in the limelight a fair bit. It was nice while it lasted, but a breathe of fresh air when it ended.
When you're a mascot a lot of the donations recieved go towards you, to live that lavish lifestyle for as long as you are appointed this noble title. Every day Angel recieved only the most expensive fish, as fish is typically a rare treat for the foxes. It isn't part of their normal diet but they love it. Sadly Angel is back onto her normal diet of various leftover meats, fruits and berries, but that doesn't mean I don't bring them some fish once in a while from the staffeteria.
Angel's History
Birth & Neglect
Angel was born into a family of nineteen foxes, deep within the rainbow forests of planet Laosina. The native laosinans elected golden foxes as the planet's Legional Animal, but despite this the species are bred en masse to support the illegal fur and animal trades.
Angel was unfortunately one of these foxes. She was forced into cages no bigger than herself where she could not run, nor even walk or simply turn around. She was made to breed with her siblings to produce foxes with the highest quality fur, and when her children were not born with as glossy fur as hers they were immediately slaughtered.
Rox was almost too late rescuing her. She was visiting several low-income settlements in the continent Asagora in the hopes of promoting some at the Zoo, but after discovering this illegal golden fox breeding ground she immediately attempted to shut it down. She was threatened by the locals, and so on her last day on the planet she broke in, grabbed Angel and ran like the wind.
According to some hidden documents Rox also uncovered, Angel's culling was planned for the following day. She had not been producing any foxes with gleaming fur, so they planned on throwing her away entirely as it was slowing down their productivity. Rox later burned down this breeding area after sending animal containment officers to retrieve every single fox.
Life at the Zoo
Because of Angel's upsetting past Rox refuses to subject her to any training, regardless of her incredibly mischievous personality. Rox doesn't want to subject Angel to any form of anxiety that training might cause, and would prefer if she lived the rest of her life how she wanted to. She requested that all zookeepers follow her wishes, and I gladly do so. It's also partly why I sneak her some special treats in once in a while.
Dramatic Storytelling
"It was chaos. All I could hear were
the screams of the visitors as Angel mercilessly ripped through the crowd. I couldn't believe what I was seeing-""Can you stop being so damn dramatic please?""Right, sorry. Yeah, as soon as she escaped she made a beeline for the crowd for cuddles. Wasn't a big deal, I just plucked her up by the scruff of her neck and placed her back in the enclosure. Problem solved."
"Lemme tell ya a story about Angel. I was training this new zookeeper, and I tried to tell him not to go into the pen alone. He didn't listen, not one bit. That fox was out the door before he could even open it, yo.""So you're telling me, Angel escaped before the door was even open?""That's what I said, yes.""Well then, surely that's a security issue? Can you come with me please, we need to have a serious talk in private.""I- Dangit."
"Can you tell me of a time Angel has escaped?""I certainly can. I had been working here for about two months, and already learned all the latest tips and tricks on dealing with Angel. Unfortunately she's an absurdly fast learner and quickly caught on to what we were doing. We slid this metallic sheet through the door as we cracked it open, to block Angel from squeezing through as we squished ourselves through a teeny gap to get into the enclosure.
Well one day we didn't come quite as prepared. We got into the enclosure as we normally did (with difficulty), but it was eerily quiet. Normally Angel is yapping away somewhere. So not hearing anything immediately raised concern in myself and my trainer. He sent me outside to go check the surroundings while he did a lap of the enclosure. Guess where I found her?
In the meat kitchen, gnawing on a giant cow leg. Where she found it I don't even know, because we don't even feed our animals cow legs.""A cow leg? That's weird. Can you come talk to me in private?""Sure can. Is there something I should be worried about?""I can't disclose that at this moment in time."
MOCHI! NO DELETE! BAD MOCHI! On the other hand, Angel is perfect. She is the sweetest thing ever. I'm so glad she found her person, and I'm a little worried about where the cow leg came from...Good article as always Mochi. Good luck with the competition.
WOO I clicked reply this time and not delete! xDD Thank you so much! I really enjoyed writing this article and yeah, some weird stuff is going on in the A to Zoo...