Viral Video of Dixie the Giggling Phone Thieving Fox Too Good to be True? We Dig Deeper
If you are one of the ninety-billion people who enjoyed the viral video of Dixie the giggling fox stealing an iPhone, but like me you wondered if it brought you too much joy, then you’ve come to the right place.
The first time I viewed the Dixie video, I was delighted. I also then also experienced pleasant emotions on my second, third, fourth and fifth viewing. The in-mouth audio of a squeaky fox, laughing at its own mischief, while sprinting away at full speed, is a sound to savor. Being a skeptic, I couldn’t let my joy go unchecked, so I dug deeper, and by my 14th viewing I began to have a few questions. In a monetized world of clicks, exposure, and influence, isn’t this video just a little…too perfect? The following is my in depth analysis:
In the beginning, we see the phone owner “Mikayla”, place her phone on the ground unaware (so it seems) that her furry BFFL Dixie might try anything sneaky.
Mikayla’s nonchalance is hard to believe when you consider that foxes are infamous for mischief. At 0:07 Mikayla tells Dixie, in her Minnesotan accent, “Dixie doo-n’t yew run off with my phoo-ne.” But if Mikayla doesn’t want Dixie to do exactly that, why not place the phone outside of Dixie’s reach?
At 0:11 we hear the sniffing of a fox, followed by a jostling, and with a whoosh, suddenly a blur of nature passes by, and we hear Mikayla’s now-more-distant voice go, “Noo-o Dixie!”, and “Dixie stop!” and, “Dixie come b-yaack!”
As terrifying as it would be in today’s world to be separated from your phone by a fox, Mikayla never seems that upset. If you listen in at 0:34, 0:47, and 1:01 you can hear Mikayla herself giggling. The audio of Mikayla’s pleading, mixed with Dixie’s giggles, creates a doubling back crescendo of fox-to-human giggles at a ratio of 1:1.
What happens next is astonishing. With unbelievable coordination (fox training?) the phone flips to reveal the silhouette of Dixie with a phone in her jabbers. Given the limited time of sunset (i.e. the golden hour) and the difficult angle of the sun to catch a fox’s silhouette so perfectly, I submit that you would have needed a Hollywood budget film crew to pull this off.
At 0:42 Dixie drops the phone a second time (to peak back playfully at Mikayla) and the camera flips again so that we get a rearview wide-angle of three incredible sights:
1) Dixie’s plush amber neck fur
2) Dixie’s large right eye ball
3) The upside-down image of a Minnesota woman running and laugh-screaming
Viewing this video hundreds of times it makes me desire a pet fox (which is telling).
It has not slipped past my attention that the phone miraculously continues to record the chaos from start to finish. I know when I record myself doing backyard yoga, the slightest breeze will not only stop the recording, but also delete my contacts.
At 1:02 Dixie begins digging. Digging what? Presumably, a fox hole. A buried iPhone at the 75% mark of a film, in Hollywood terms, would be Mikayla’s Dark Night of the Soul; again leading me to believe the entire event is scripted and rehearsed.
Further analysis shows that the fox-hole was already in place prior to filming, meaning this was not the first time they did the “fox steals my phone and buries it” routine. In other words, this seemingly spontaneous romp, was most likely staged.
An unnamed source confirmed the owner of the phone is Mikayla Raines, founder of SaveAFox non-profit, which takes in sick, injured, and rejected foxes. I can’t help but to wonder if this do-gooder is up to no good in her attempt to spread fox awareness, because now want one. And now we all want one. Given Mikayla’s incentive to save foxes, it all adds up to a strategic mastermind praying on gullible and naive minds like my own.
As a truth seeker I will continue to dig for answers, like a fox digs a phone hole. But I encourage you to watch the video for yourself and draw your own conclusions.
Humbly yours.
