Sanders Wildlife Inc. offers humane wildlife management services in Atlanta, Metro Atlanta, and West Georgia.
The company has helped to rescue foxes, raccoons, otters, skunks, bears, and cougars. But not all of their rescues have ideal outcomes.
That was unfortunately the case for a fox they came across that was in distress.
A homeowner reached out to Sanders Wildlife after finding the fox on their property.
The poor thing’s paw was stuck good in the Y of a tree. He was “brutally” stuck, as his rescuer described it.
“That’s a bad spot buddy,” The Sanders Wildlife rescuer told the fox when he came to him.
The rescuer gently approached the fox so that he wouldn’t be scared and wriggle around making him wedged in the tree further.
The poor fox was absolutely terrified. The man got closer and tried to comfort the fox.
“I know, you’re so scared,” he said to the beautiful frightened creature.
The man started to use a tool to poke at the tree and see if he could stretch the limbs apart to free the fox.
The poor fox started to violently wiggle around out of fear of the human man.
But eventually, he realized that the tree’s grip was loosening on his paw. So, the fox finally calmed down realizing that the man was there to help him.
Eventually, the man was able to stretch the tree far apart enough so that the fox could remove his paw.
The moment that tree opened up the fox took off running.
However, he looked like he was hobbling due to his injury. His rescuer says the fox may have lost the use of his injured foot.
“This tree was very strong and hard to open up, but after some time I was able to pry open the tree to release the Red Fox. Unfortunately, this Fox most likely will lose its paw that was caught. The good news is a 3 footed fox can still live an effective life. Directly after releasing, the fox jumped 5 feet up a retaining wall. We wish the best to this beautiful creature and appreciate the Home Owner reaching out for assistance,” Sanders Wildlife wrote in a caption of the fox’s rescue video.
The state of Georgia considers the fox a vector species. This means they aren’t allowed to be taken into rehab or relocated.
They are usually just put to sleep when brought into one of these facilities.
Sanders Wildlife also wasn’t allowed to shoot a firearm in the area. So, he made the choice to let the fox live with its three working feet, which could potentially heal on its own.
“I have in fact seen 3 footed foxes surviving in the wild and I had to make the choice I did that day with the very little resources I had. No rehabber or vet was open and I consulted with professionals before making the call,” Sanders Wildlife wrote.
Sanders Wildlife said that it always tries to help animals but was constrained by the law. At least this fox isn’t stuck any longer.
You can check out his rescue in the video below.
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