Vulpes vulpes
May 11, 2010
The pager had been non-stop since about noon. Thankfully our volunteer Sammarye responded to the call in Boulder Creek about two baby skunks wandering the road. Firemen in San Jose rescued the two young crows dangling 45' in the air, entangled in fishing line. That left me to deal with the mysterious animal under someone's deck in Watsonville (i just hate surprises).
While on the phone with the caller i could hear faint cries. It sounded almost like a cat... maybe a bobcat kitten, a fox? According to the homeowner, the animal had started making the noise on and off since the day before. She said it was sounding not as fierce, much weaker.
A local animal removal company went by and was satisfied that it was just a wild animal, like a raccoon in labor. That did not make sense to me... wild animals don't wail when giving birth - that would only alert predators.I called a friend and neighbor to assist. Brave soul. When we arrived, the animal was quiet. We scouted the area looking for entry points, trying to at least get a glimpse of what it was.
If it were an animal with newborns, it would be unkind to disturb her plus, the mother would be fiercely protective. But still, we weren't sold on that idea... so, down the hatch went Klaus, ...down into the dark dank crawl space under the home.
A few minutes later he called out, he'd found a nest with a baby fox that looked trapped, like it was stuck on something.
Under the house i went with a sack of gloves, a mesh animal bag, cutting tools, and extra flashlights.
The young red fox was caught in the monofilament netting that held the insulation to the underside of the house.
She was so frightened.
With only a few inches to work with, it was really tough to cut the netting around her neck and legs. It did not help when the flashlight batteries started to die and the work light bulb burned out.
We must have been down there a good hour.
Finally, Klaus snipped the last little bit of netting. But, we couldn't pull her through the space toward us - we had to let her go.
I left Klaus in the dark and belly-crawled as fast as i could to the exit, grabbed a net from the truck, and ran to the backyard where she would have exited.
There she was, hobbling down the slope to a known hole in the fence. I hobbled after her, my body stiff from the cramped space. Before she could get through the fence, i had her netted.
She could not simply be set free because of two reasons. One, she was injured from being snared for so long and needs rehabiliative care. Two, she is a red fox, a non-native considered invasive to California. Many places euthanize them on the spot. With permission from the Department of Fish & Game she will find a permanent home at a wildlife center near the Bay Area. We're hoping to transfer her there in the next 24 hours.
