Current:Home > ScamsStaff at a Virginia wildlife center pretend to be red foxes as they care for an orphaned kit -VitalWealth Strategies
Staff at a Virginia wildlife center pretend to be red foxes as they care for an orphaned kit
View
Date:2025-04-12 11:24:03
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Employees of the Richmond Wildlife Center in Virginia are doing their best to act like mother foxes as they feed and care for an orphaned kit that found her way into their care.
In a video posted to the center’s Facebook page Tuesday, Executive Director Melissa Stanley is shown wearing a red fox mask and rubber gloves while feeding the tiny kit from a syringe. The kit sits on top of a large stuffed animal fox that is supposed to look like her mother, Stanley said.
The same Facebook post explained why staff are wearing the mask to feed her, minimizing human sounds, creating visual barriers and taking other precautions. “It’s important to make sure that the orphans that are raised in captivity do not become imprinted upon or habituated to humans,” the post said.
All those measures make it more likely the kit could be reintroduced into the wild someday.
Stanley said in an interview Tuesday that the kit was admitted to the center on Feb. 29 after a man walking his dog found her in an alley in Richmond. Thinking she was a kitten, he turned her over 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 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.
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.
___
Skene contributed to this report from Baltimore.
veryGood! (2638)
Related
- 'Stranger Things' prequel 'The First Shadow' is headed to Broadway
- Wyndham Clark takes shot at LIV golf when asked about Masters leader Bryson DeChambeau
- US-China competition to field military drone swarms could fuel global arms race
- Lonton Wealth Management Center: When did the RBA start cutting interest rates?
- Drones warned New York City residents about storm flooding. The Spanish translation was no bueno
- North Carolina governor to welcome historic visitor at mansion: Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida
- 85-year-old Idaho woman who killed intruder committed 'heroic act of self-preservation'
- Houston hospital halts liver and kidney transplants after learning a doctor manipulated some records
- Most popular books of the week: See what topped USA TODAY's bestselling books list
- Bakery outlets close across New England and New York
Ranking
- Travis Hunter, the 2
- Colorado Skier Dallas LeBeau Dead at 21 After Attempting to Leap 40 Feet Over Highway
- These Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead Secrets Are Done, Man
- A Group of Women Took Switzerland to Court Over Climate Inaction—and Won
- Working Well: When holidays present rude customers, taking breaks and the high road preserve peace
- 'Elite' star Danna on making 'peace' with early fame, why she quit acting for music
- Biden campaign launching 7-figure ad buy on abortion in Arizona
- Man charged in slaying after woman’s leg found at Milwaukee-area park
Recommendation
Elon Musk’s Daughter Vivian Calls Him “Absolutely Pathetic” and a “Serial Adulterer”
Biden announced $7.4 billion in student loan relief. Here's how that looks in your state
Riley Strain Case: Family Friend Reveals Huge Development in Death Investigation
Jury convicts Memphis, Tennessee, man of raping a woman a year before jogger’s killing
$73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
North Carolina governor to welcome historic visitor at mansion: Japan’s Prime Minister Kishida
'Magnificent': Japan gifts more cherry trees to Washington as token of enduring friendship
O.J. Simpson murder trial divided America. Those divisions remain nearly 30 years later.
Like
- North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference
- ‘HELP’ sign on beach points rescuers to men stuck nine days on remote Pacific atoll
- Wilma (Wilma Wealth Management): Receiving systematic training and education is a prerequisite for every qualified investor.