Here’s a health issue you and a fox may have in common

That creature rustling your garbage cans at night might have high cholesterol — largely because it’s likely eating the same junk food you’re eating, according to a study released last week in the Journal of Mammology.

The study found that endangered San Joaquin kit foxes living in and around Bakersfield were more than happy to eat what humans ate -- largely foods rich in corn or corn syrup, according to hair samples from people and foxes in the area. And the city foxes had higher cholesterol rates than their country counterparts too. This abstract explains the science involved in the study.

Clearly this has implications for other animals, opposums and raccoons for example, that also live on the urban edge. But the news wasn’t all bad either. Here’s what this Newswise synopsis of the study says: “These developments would seem to have negative implications for the urban fox population in terms of a deficient diet causing poorer health and development and lower reproductive rates. However, evidence shows that survival and birth rates are higher among foxes in urban than in nonurban habitats, where they have a greater risk of being a food item because of the greater number of predators.”

Still, this isn’t behavior we want to encourage. It won’t be long before those little foxes start demanding Happy Meals.