ALBEMARLE COUNTY, Va. (WVIR) – The Wildlife Center of Virginia is celebrating the release of a red fox after a weeks-long rescue effort. <\/p>\n
The fox was found with something stuck around its neck and rescuers had to get creative to safely capture and free it. <\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it can take a few hours, sometimes even a few days,\u201d said Connor Gillespie, the Wildlife Center\u2019s outreach director, \u201cbut this was definitely one of our longest rescues.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gillespie says the Center started receiving multiple calls from people in Albemarle County about a red fox with something around its neck. The hard part was finding the fox and getting to stay in one place. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe believe that it was part of a French drain,\u201d Gillespie said. \u201cThe fox probably got curious, stuck his head inside a drain, and then when he went to pull it out, you know, part of it dislodged and got the part of the neck.\u201d <\/p>\n
Gillespie says nothing about the fox being stuck was intentional. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe knew that it was in trouble, but the problem is that foxes are really difficult to capture,\u201d Gillespie said. \u201cWe advise them, you know, to set out some humane traps, live traps that hopefully capture it to get to us for care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once it arrived at the Center, the fox was helped and released the same day with no punctures or injuries. <\/p>\n
The procedure took hours, using shears to cut through the plastic around the fox\u2019s neck. Though no one was to blame for this incident, Gillespie says it was a good reminder that man-made materials can pose a threat to animals.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in this case, it was sort of a freak accident,\u201d Gillespie said. \u201cIt\u2019s always good to be cautious and make sure we\u2019re not littering. But luckily, everyone in that community cared, you know, everyone was calling us trying to help this fox.\u201d <\/p>\n
According to Gillespie, they try to get the animals out within under a week. Sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn\u2019t. <\/p>\n
In this case, he says it was a huge success to release it same day with no injuries and that will always be the centers\u2019 main goal if they can help it. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur goal is to treat to release anytime we get the animal we want to provide treatment with the goal and getting it back out in the wild where they belong,\u201d Gillespie said. \u201cAnytime we get the animal back out this quickly. That\u2019s great news. We love to see it.\u201d <\/p>\n
For more information on the fox, click here.<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n