She was partway down the trail when a flicker of movement pulled her attention to the trees, something small and rust-colored weaving through the woods.
At first, the woman from Pennsylvania assumed it was nothing out of the ordinary, just another animal moving quietly through the brush. Then she spotted something around its neck that clearly did not belong.
It caught a faint bit of light, snug against the fur and nearly hidden among the leaves.
The animal stopped the instant she did, its head lowered, its breathing fast and shallow. She could not yet make sense of exactly what she was seeing, only that something about it was not right. Her camera dropped. Curiosity gave way to concern.
And in that hushed pause between them, she understood this was not simply a random encounter. It was a plea for help.
The Animal Was Desperate For Help
It started out as an ordinary day for Julie Bernstein when she looked out of the window and saw an animal that needed her help.
At first, it wasn’t clear what it was, but then it dawned on her: it was a fox and he had something around his neck.
She called Aark Wildlife Rehabilitation and Education Center (Aark) in Pennsylvania in order to set up a camera and see where he was moving the whole time.
The woman realized there was a piece of tubing stuck on the fox’s neck and it was causing him a lot of problems.
Amanda Leyden, who works at Aark, told The Dodo: “The object around his neck was likely a section of drainage pipe. Small animals sometimes take shelter in these pipes, and a curious fox may stick its head inside to investigate or hunt, only to find itself stuck when trying to back out.”
Aark told Bernstein that the simplest solution to this problem was to catch the fox and bring him over to them so they could help.
In order to help the fox, Bernstein first needed to befriend him. He was scared of humans, so the plan was to help him relax a little bit.
Tubey Was A Really Healthy Fox
She set up a feeding station near her property, and she kept monitoring the fox the whole time. After a while, she decided to set up a humane trap.
As days went by, the fox got closer to the trap and Bernstein’s plan was working. She said: “Foxes are extremely intelligent and cautious. So this process took quite a bit of time and patience.”
The fox, now named Tubey, eventually got into the trap and the rescue was successful. After catching him, she found out that he was in excellent shape.
Now that he was safe, he was taken to Aark, where the rescuers sedated him and got started on the process of removing the tube around his neck.
He was also examined for other potential health problems, but Tubey was just a really healthy fox. There wasn’t much more they could do for him after removing the tube.
Leyden said: “Once Tubey woke up fully from sedation, he appeared noticeably calmer. He settled comfortably in his crate, alert but no longer panicked, which was a big change from his arrival.”
Once everything was taken care of, Bernstein took the fox back to where she first spotted him and allowed him to go back to his natural habitat. It’s pretty amazing how everything turned out so well for him.