Baby fox caught in window well saved by University of Guelph students

Students saved a fox kit caught in a window well at a University of Guelph residence and the animal is now recovering at a wildlife refuge.

Victoria Welsh, an animal protection officer with the Guelph Humane Society, responded to a call from the students who found the animal and at first thought it was a muskrat because it was grey.

The students were advised to put a piece of wood into the window well to act as a ramp, with hopes the animal would crawl out. The students were able to get the fox out, but were concerned for its health, Welsh said.

"These girls did notice that this animal wasn't really moving. It seemed quiet and lethargic. So they gave us a call to come out just because they weren't comfortable leaving it," she said. 

Welsh said the animal, deemed to be a fox kit because it had a bit of orange on its face, appeared to be dehydrated. That, along with a special weather statement for freezing rain, led Welsh to intervene and take the fox to the humane society.

It has since been moved to the Hobbitstee Wildlife Refuge in Nanticoke where it will be cared for and eventually released back into the wild.

"That's always the end goal. We never want to keep them in care. They're wildlife. They're meant to be outside," Welsh said.

Baby animals are usually OK in wild

While removing the animal was the right call in this case, Welsh said spring is a very busy time for the humane society with many calls from concerned people about baby animals. 

"We're already starting to see the babies coming up, especially with our cottontails [rabbits]," she said.

Welsh said in most cases, the babies are fine and the mother will return for them.

"Just because you don't see mom sitting on the nest or near the nest does not mean those babies are orphaned. Cottontails actually only come once — maybe twice — a day for about 10 minutes to see their young and those babies are alone the rest of the day," she said. 

She noted cottontail bunnies are only in their nest for about two weeks.

She said if people come across baby animals in their backyards, in a park or along a trail, the best thing is to assess the situation with just your eyes.

She said it can be "pretty obvious" if baby animals are in distress. They will look dehydrated, or may be crying in distress or there could be obvious injuries from a fall or attack.

"If we're not seeing those and they're nice and quiet, they're probably OK to be left alone," she said.

She suggests if you are concerned a bird's nest with chicks has been abandoned, you can lightly place two twigs over it in an 'X' pattern. "That way if mom [returns to] the nest to feed her babies, those sticks will be disturbed."

Don't over-handle wild animals

Another thing people can do is use their phones to take a photo of the babies and send it to the humane society if they're not quite sure.

"We have an awesome client services team who are always happy to provide an email to send those pictures and so we can do an assessment. If you're unsure, uncomfortable assessing yourself, that is totally fine," she said.

If a baby appears to have been moved from its nest, she says it's also OK to put it back. It's a myth that human scent on an animal will make the mother reject it, Welsh said. But as an extra precaution, people can use gloves or a towel to move the baby back. It's important not to over-handle the animals, which could cause stress for it. 

She also said people shouldn't move nests, even if they think the nest is in an unsafe spot.

"Momma ... knows where that nest is. If we move in on her, she will not be able to locate those babies," Welsh said.

Instead, if a pet might get at the nest, she suggests creating a barrier around the nest, using something like an old laundry basket with a hole in it so the mother animal can get in.