An Itch In Time - Mangy Fox Rescue

Yves Saint Laurent is a repeat offender. This is her 3rd time in the clink. We guess she just can’t get enough prison food, or maybe she just wants a little “me time”. She knows the routine by now as Warden Luke frees her. She doesn’t even stomp when he starts singing. She’s either tone deaf or a sadist.

Francesca, #182, from Voorhees, NJ was captured early this morning. She is not our intended target, but apparently she was hungry enough to risk going in for our hotdogs in bbq sauce and raw eggs. She, and her mate, Phil, appear to be healthy on camera and we were not expecting either of them to enter the trap. It’s extremely rare to catch a healthy fox since they are well enough to be avid hunters and less likely to take risks like going into a trap.

Our original target is extremely mangy and has appeared twice very briefly near the trap. We are playing the waiting game until he or she is desperate enough to go in for the hoard of bait in the back.

Luke transferred Francesca into a carrier to calm her down so he could observe her to make sure she was healthy and showing no signs of mange. As you can see from the pictures in the beginning of the video, Phil came to check on her and briefly keep her company before he took off. There’s a good chance that the two of them are a bonded mating pair… and Phil had to get back to the kits.

Once Luke felt that Francesca was good to go, he released her from the carrier. Minutes later, Luke saw her trotting across several front yards in the neighborhood, most likely heading back towards the direction of her family. She did let out a loud yell, which was most likely her announcing she was coming home. Trapping foxes can be very traumatic and stressful, so we’re glad she was able to be released right away and not have to take a trip to a rehab rehabilitation center… and be away from her partner and potential kits.

Here’s the short version of Dublin’s capture. Please… Follow our page to see the full video and other rescues like his! Don’t forget to Like & Share our page too!

Dublin, #181, from Sicklerville, NJ is a small male kit that appears to be orphaned for one reason or another. We got a call yesterday afternoon from Donna, mother of homeowner, Skyler, who had a mangy fox on her property. The call was perfect timing, as Luke was just wrapping up his part-time job. The picture that was sent to him is the first picture in the video. The instant he saw the condition of the fox, he headed straight for the location.

When he got there, Luke crept around the entire shed to see if the fox was sunbathing. It was not… but he then peeked under each opening under the shed and the fox was sleeping less than 2 feet from the edge. Afraid to move and startle the fox in the wrong direction, Luke texted for Skyler to sneak outside and then go to the back of the shed. The plan was for Skyler to bang on the back wall of the shed in hopes the fox would run out the front where Luke was waiting with his pole net in hand. Skyler came out holding her adorable toddler who was so quiet and cooperative during the ordeal. Skyler is holding her daughter on one hip and banging on the wall with her free hand. This went on for several minutes, but the attempt failed. The fox never budged… not sure if it was too lethargic to care or felt that staying put was its safest option. Luke then tried to get Skyler to toss pebbles down the long narrow opening to scare the fox out… also, did not work.

Luke decided to back away and let the fox stay in place for the moment. He texted Nicole, AIIT Volunteer, to come over to help assist. Nicole had the bright idea to bring her leaf blower in hopes that the constant wind and blowing of small particles would encourage the fox to leave the safety of the shed. Well the plan worked and the fox came out slowly and out of sorts. Luke was able to snag the fox, which he originally thought was a small vixen, but ended up being a kit.

After securing the kit in the net, Nicole & Luke worked together to identify the s*x of the kit and get it safely into the carrier. After sending out a few texts to the AIIT Volunteer group, Karen Cooper, & Dr. Mei-An… Nicole decided it would be best if she transported Dublin herself to Karen,from Cooper’s Fox Den. We didn’t want to hold the kit temporarily over night and transport the next day. We knew the kit was most likely dehydrated and needed subcutaneous fluids and to be monitored by a licensed fox rehabber.

From the time the call came in… to the time Dublin was road bound for recovery, was 2 hours. We are so fortunate to have an incredible group of volunteers willing to serve a purpose to save and protect the fox population. It’s truly a team effort and personal sacrifices are made to get our critical foxes the care they need right away.

We are behind of some fox posts, so please stay tuned as the stories roll out of other foxes we’ve caught over the last few weeks. Some happy & sad… but that’s how it goes with any rescue. So we apologize if our stories are out of order.

And thank you to all of you who support & donate to us in some way. You keep us funded, supplied, and encouraged to keep going forward with our mission. 🦊 ❤️

2 MINUTES!!! That’s all it takes of your time to move a dead animal out of the roadway to keep other scavengers from being hit and perpetuating the problem. Luke left the male opossum to be food for another animal (fox, hawk, raccoon, vulture, etc). This way those animals can eat safely and feed their young as well.

If this were a female opossum, she would have had joeys in her pouch or already latched to her back… increasing the death toll if left in the roadway. The sooner you move the deceased the safer it is for all other animals involved.

ALWAYS KEEP DISPOSABLE GLOVES IN YOUR VEHICLE! (& a pair of leather or bite proof gloves too). If this were a female, you could check the pouch for joeys and either drive to a rehab center with the injured/deceased mom so the baby joeys can be saved… or call non-emergency police to arrange for animal control to come get from you.

Obviously use caution and safely extract the injured/deceased animal from the roadway. Please you common sense and don’t put yourself in harms way. Any true animal lover driving by on a residential street will slow down and/or stop traffic to allow you to retrieve the animal if you make your intentions clear. This particular roadway is a county road and during morning rush hours, so Luke had to time things out accordingly. Thankfully, after the initial hit, all other passers avoided the opossum and prevented further damage. Unfortunately, nobody spent the time to move the opossum… and just one of the many reasons for this post.

Please, let’s change the culture of how we drive and how we treat our “roadkill”. They are animals and have/had families. Babies rely heavily on their parents for survival, especially moms. Let’s treat wildlife like we would treat someone’s pet that ran into the road. Let’s show a little compassion and not be so self-absorbed in our own little worlds. We’re ALL interconnected. Let’s treat everybody and everything as living creatures… we ALL have value and serve a purpose.