A DEAF fox has learned sign language after being given a home by a wildlife enthusiast who is herself profoundly deaf.

Milly the vixen was rescued by Beth Tyler-King – and the pair even communicate through sign language.

For the six week-old malnourished fox cub, being rescued by Miss Tyler-King was a godsend. Now aged 18 months, she has become so domesticated that her best friends are cats Angel and Harley, she wears a collar, watches TV and has developed a taste for grated cheese and Coco Pops.

Miss Tyler-King, who has dedicated herself to rescuing wildlife and is currently caring for 70 animals, including blind hedgehogs and birds that have been shot, said: "Milly came to me at six weeks old. She had been chased by three yobs and a family picked her up in the headlights of their car, on a main road, being chased by these yobs. They took her home – she was traumatised and stressed out.

"Because of their circumstances they couldn't keep her and they realised that she was profoundly deaf.

"We think that is how she got separated from her mother because the mother calls the cubs."

The family calmed Milly and got her to lose her fear of humans before deciding to hand her over to Miss Tyler-King, who herself lost 95 per cent of her hearing at the age of four.

"She couldn't have come to a better person," she said. "I took her to vets twice and they both confirmed she couldn't hear – she didn't respond to anything. It was then decided she would stay with me for life.

"She has enhanced my life. I can't imagine life without her."

Miss Tyler-King, 43, said she has even developed a signing system for Milly, who wears a collar with a tag telling people she is deaf.

"I get her to sit – I do it by doing hand signals," she said. "I put my palm out facing downwards to say sit – and she does sit."

Milly seems to be very happy spending at Miss Tyler-King's bungalow in Hartland, North Devon. She enjoys a diet of day-old chicks, raw tripe, cat biscuits, and cooked chicken – but also enjoys cake, grated cheese and Coco Pops.

She shares her home with many other injured or sick animals and birds that Miss Tyler-King has adopted or is looking after before their release back into the wild.

"My spare room is like my intensive care room," she said. "At the moment I have got 30 hedgehogs and five owls, seven dogs, 14 cats, five pigeons, a dove, a parrot and a squirrel."