A baby fox was mistaken for a muskrat in a Guelph Humane Society rescue call.
The baby fox was trapped in a window well at a University of Guelph residence last week, says the humane society.
Two officers from the Guelph Humane Society responded to the call.
“It’s easy to confuse a baby coyote with a baby fox,” said Natalie Thomas, Guelph Humane Society communications manager. With the help of their wildlife team they were able to determine it was a baby fox.
The fox crawled into the coat of the officer who was holding her. They didn’t have an incubator to keep the baby fox warm so they made a makeshift one with heating pads. They also gave her fluids since she was dehydrated and then gained some more energy.
It is the beginning of spring so it is common to see baby wildlife around and there will be more baby foxes around in the coming month. Baby foxes are known as kits.
Thomas said the officers made a difficult judgment call to bring the baby fox in since ideally they would want to reunite the baby with its mother. Since it was a dark, cold rainy night they thought it would be best to rescue it.
The officers best guess the mother might have been carrying the baby, got spooked and ran away since it is a busy area where the baby was found.
The Guelph Humane Society can only hold wildlife for 24 hours so the baby fox was given to Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge in Nanticoke. They said the baby fox is doing well, eating and gaining weight.
Once the fox is old enough it will be released back into the wild.
