At the time of writing, we have five
cubs in, and they are a varied selection. Firstly, let me tell you about the two most fragile ones.
A lady in the Isle of Wight found a badly injured fox in the garden. At a loss to know what to do, she
rang a pest controller to come and help. Luckily, she chose a pest controller who did not kill foxes, and another
stroke of luck was that he took his wife with him. When they arrived, the poor fox had died of her injuries. From underneath
the shed came the thin sound of tiny cubs whimpering. They retrieved five very tiny little cubs, all males.
The wife of the pest controller, Michelle, decided to take
them home and try and look after them until she found someone who would take them on. She did a fantastic
job for five days, using her previous experience of rearing kittens. She found Little Foxes on the internet, and contacted
me two days after the rescue. Three days later she travelled up with the cubs.
Sadly, by this time things were starting to go wrong, and one
cub died shortly after arrival. Two more followed the next day. They were clearly succumbing as they were
so very tiny, and had had little or no mother’s milk.
After very intensive care I am pleased to say the
remaining two cubs are currently doing well, although it is still too soon to feel over confident. I
believe their mother may have been hit by a car, managed to return to the earth, and given birth perhaps a couple of days
prematurely, and then soon afterwards crept out of the earth and tragically died.
Shortly after these cubs arrived, we took
in a sweet little female cub who was found all alone, and was not claimed by her mother despite being left out in a box,
with a hot water bottle for warmth, for several hours. She has been called Elsa because on arrival she looked like a
little lion cub. She cried for about two days solid, even continuing while she was eating, and only stopped
when picked up and comforted. She then settled happily and displayed her sunny nature.
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A fews days later Gabriel arrived (so
named because he is such a little angel), and he didn’t cry at all, he just filled his tum up to the very top with milk
at every opportunity and then went fast asleep again. On arrival, he was absolutely exhausted, and fell asleep
in my hand as I was writing out his record card. He had been found in a barn, trying to force his way into
solid hay bales. He also was not claimed by a parent, and we think perhaps he had got left behind when
the litter was moved by the vixen, as there had been disturbance in the barn as large hay bales were being moved
by the farmer.
Our fifth little chap is Calico, and is much bigger than the others, probably
having been born at the beginning of February or even late January. He had been hit by a car, and staggered
into a garden where he collapsed. He had a head injury, but after two days of being extremely weak, he has
responded to fluid therapy and regular doses of Arnica for his bruising, and has over the last few days made a marvellous
recovery. He is now able to stand and walk about, although he is still a little bit wobbly. He can also now
feed from a bowl, and is somewhat confused about where he is and what on earth has happened to him. I shall
be glad when he has a companion of a similar size as that will settle him down better than anything else.
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