Injured Fox Not Distressed Kitten

What started off as a kitten rescue turned into a face to face meeting with an injured baby fox.

Yesterday after dinner I took Davinia and Indiana for a walk. As we were approaching a bend in the road we met up with my dad who was walking their dog Whisper. Whisper alerted to something down in the ravine so we stopped to check it out. Since Whisper and my dad got to the area first my dad had a chance to check out the situation. As we walked closer my dad said there was an injured kitten down there. I could see a grey blob moving around but it was too far away to get a good look. Plus we had 3 dogs with us and if one of us went down to check out the situation the dogs would have really gotten upset. So we decided to take the dogs back to the house and drive back over with some white towels (we knew the animal was in distress and would likely have to bleach anything it came into contact with) and a box to put the kitten in.







When we got back the animal had moved slightly but we spotted it again this time he had his binoculars and I had the long lens on my camera to try and get a better idea of what we were dealing with before going down. The animal was thrashing around and could not stand up we still could not see that well even with the use of my long lens ad his binoculars. I snapped a few pictures figuring even if the kitten was sick and ultimately didn’t make it I could still talk about what we did and the steps we took. What was wrong with it and if it would have been possible how we helped it get better so that it could live a happy life. I initially thought that if it was not poisoned that there was something neurological going on – that the kitten would never be like other cats but could at least live a happy and otherwise healthy life.

My dad went down into the ravine to get what we still thought was a very sick or injured kitten. It would only randomly lift its head so we couldn’t make out any features but we figured we would try. So he got down to the kitten and it opened its eyes and looked right at him. At that point it was clear that this was not an injured kitten but a very injured or sick wild animal. The decision was made that we had to leave it where it was. The Ravine is not that far from my parents house and they already have wild animals coming much closer to the front door the they would like and taking in someone’s baby even for the night and even though it was injured and abandoned by its mother doesn’t mean that she would not come back looking. Since I didn’t go down and had no idea I actually got a picture of the animal’s muzzle I had to go by my dad’s initial thought which was baby mountain lion. Its eyes were fully opened and as you can see from the above picture the ears were fully opened as well. Having seen the adult foxes they are not all that much bigger then Davinia and Indiana so I would estimate that the baby fox was at least 6 weeks old if not closer to 8 or 9 weeks. The mother obviously made a decision to leave her baby near the water and not take it or allow it back in the den which we know is not that far away. (We haven’t seen the den but we have seen the adult foxes.)







Like I said we had to leave it no one was going to come out last night that could actually help the animal and it wasn’t a cat or dog that an emergency vet could or would treat. It was a wild animal and there were other indications that the animal was not going to make it through the night but I am not going to go into detail. The best thing we could do for it was leave it alone in its bed of leaves rocks, and branches.

As soon as I got back to the house I checked to see if I got any pictures of it that could help identify what kind of animal it was. It turned out it was a baby fox. A baby grey fox to be exact. We know that there are Grey Foxes around the house and they even came out to sun themselves on the rocks across from my parent’s driveway. We know there are multiple foxes living up in the forest It is illegal to own a fox here so we would have had to call in a wildlife rehabilitator to take it but there was no way that without proper treatment and care that the baby fox would make it through the night.

I did do research on what we could do for the injured fox but most of it was from the UK and obviously they weren’t getting on a plane to come and help a single baby fox in distress. I tried to find information about local resources to that might be able to come out quickly enough to help but the web sites were outdated and no information was coming up for my state for people that are licensed to help injured wildlife. If the cause of the baby fox’s distress was not neurological it likely was poisoned possibly from eating a poisoned mouse or other sick or injured animal.

How to deal with a baby fox:
If you find a baby fox all the information out there says not to approach it. If it is walking around, playing, or otherwise looks fine the mother is likely somewhere nearby just allowing her baby to be on its own a bit. The mother will come back and if you get too close she will not be happy with you.

What to do with an injured baby fox:
If you find an injured baby fox resources say to leave it where it is and call in wildlife specialists to evaluate the situation. You should not touch it because it is wild and most likely frightened and could carry a host of diseases none of which you want to be exposed to if the animal scratches or bites you. In our situation there was no help we could get it before morning because of the time of day and the fact that it was a holiday. We had to leave it and let nature take its course. If you live in the city a call to your local police might get an injured wild animal some help or at least a number you can call to try and find help. Your local animal control will not come out to deal with wild animals.