Maybe the line between myth and reality is thinner than we think. There are indeed silver‑coated red foxes in this part of the forest, a rare mutation that gives them a silvery sheen, and a handful of hunters have mentioned seeing one near the old trail. The story could simply be a legend born from that one elusive animal, amplified by the need to explain a forgotten path. So there might be a real fox in there, but the tale itself has probably outgrown the creature it once described.