Executive director and founder of the Richmond Wildlife Center Melissa Stanley wears a fox mask as she feeds an orphaned red fox kit on March 10, 2024, in Richmond, Va. (Richmond Wildlife Center via AP)
Wildlife center staff initially tried to locate the kit's mother and her den site so they could reunite them. They found the den site, but were told by the grounds superintendent that the foxes had been trapped and removed. Stanley said she suspects the fox kit either fell out of a trap or off the back of the trapper's truck.
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Staff at the wildlife center have been taking turns feeding the kit every two to four hours, all while wearing the fox mask. In addition to the large stuffed animal meant to mimic the kit's mother, staff also put a smaller stuffed red fox in her enclosure. She cuddles up to the smaller stuffed animal at the end of the video.
"The goal is to release animals back into the wild, not only to give them a greater chance of survival, but to recognize their own species and to reproduce to carry on their wildlife population," Stanley said.
To that end, the center immediately began looking for other red fox kits of the same age and weight within the rehabilitation community. Staff located three other kits in a rehabilitation setting in northern Virginia. The fox kit will be transferred to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization, which plans to eventually release the kits back into the wild together.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/virginia-wildlife-center-staff-use-unorthodox-method-caring-orphaned-kit-dressing-like-fox