In Sebastian, a mother and father fox frantically dug and dug to reach their three kits after their burrow had been blocked off by the homeowners trying to reinforce the foundation of their home.
According to Florida Today, the three newborn foxes had been hidden by their parents in a narrow underground tunnel left by a tortoise. Joe and Julie Scozzari had no idea what had made the hole in a home they own and rent out, but the hole kept getting larger, and in order to protect the house, he shoveled dirt in front of the hole’s entrance after fortifying it with plywood and logs.
A home video camera that night, however captured the images of a female fox frantically trying to dig away the dirt Scozzari had just filled. He wanted to help and enlisted the aid of WILD Florida Rescue in Melbourne. And with their advice, Joe removed the plywood, the logs and reopened the entrance to their den.
Volunteers from the wild animal rescue organization arrived and tried to enter the burrow and grab the kits. Their tiny mews could be heard using their cellphone, but the kits had retreated to the far end of the burrow and couldn’t be reached.
And so it was time Mother Nature took the lead, and with the volunteers expanding the size of the hole, it was time to wait and hope that the fox parents would return for their babies.
One video clip shows the mother fox leaving the den with one of her babies in her mouth and the male standing guard. She soon returned for the other two. All were soon safe, and apparently the mom and dad decided this particular den was too dangerous and moved their precious little ones to another shelter hideout.
Great example of what WFR was created on and what we are trained for. A homeowner closed in a fox hole not knowing it was a fox den until he saw footage from a night cam of mom and dad fox frantically trying to back get in! We raced to the sight and dug out the hole praying to find live babies and we found a pocket where we assumed they were. We left the hole open and night cam back up and we were bleeding joy the next morning when the footage showed the parents retrieving the kits!!
WILD Florida Rescue Facebook page
We love happy endings. Many thanks to the alert homeowners who helped to save these precious lives.
(Photos via screenshots Joe Scozari)
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