Workers at a wildlife center in Virginia are outsmarting an orphaned newborn red fox in its care by dressing up as its mother.
Video shared by Richmond Wildlife Center Facebook Page On Tuesday, executive director Melissa Stanley was pictured wearing a large furry fox mask with a moving toothy mouth and rubber gloves as she syringe fed a hungry youngster. .
The little kit (a term used to refer to a young red fox) can be seen perched on top of a large stuffed fox, said to resemble its mother, and eagerly suckling.
Later in the recording, the adorable furball can be seen cuddling up to a small stuffed fox in its enclosure.
A post accompanying the heartwarming ‘Fox Milk Time’ video explains why staff play dress-up when working with the kits.
“It is important to ensure that orphans raised in captivity do not develop human imprinting or habituation,” the report said.
“To prevent that, we minimize human noise, create visual barriers, reduce handling, reduce multiple transfers between different facilities, and wear species-appropriate masks. .”
All of these steps increase the likelihood that this kit will one day be reintroduced into the wild.
The young red fox was found by a man walking his dog in a Richmond alley on February 29 and taken to a rescue center.
A dog walker mistook Kit for a kitten and took her to the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. She was less than 24 hours old and her umbilical stump was still attached.
Wildlife center staff attempted to track down the kit’s mother and den location in hopes of reuniting it with its family. They found the location of the den, but were told by the groundskeeper that the fox had been trapped and carried away.
Stanley said she suspects the fox kit either fell out of a trap or from the back of a trapper’s truck.
Staff at the wildlife center take turns feeding the kits every two to four hours while wearing creepy fox masks that cover their entire heads.
“The goal is to reintroduce animals back into the wild, not only to increase their chances of survival, but also to recognize their species and breed to maintain wild animal populations,” Stanley said. Ta.
The orphaned Richmond kit is now being transported to Animal Education and Rescue in Northern Virginia, where they are caring for three other kits with plans to eventually release them all back into the wild.
with post wire
