Spring Is Here – With the Arrival of Our 1st Baby Mammal!
We know spring has arrived when baby mammals start arriving at WRC. Typically, our first infant mammal admit is an Eastern Gray Squirrel or Eastern Cottontail Rabbit. However this year, just like last year, we deviated from the norm: Our first mammal admit was a Red Fox kit!
Last year, our first mammal admit (three Red Fox kits) occured on March 27th. This year, March 12th. Does this mean animals are breeding earlier?? Not necessarily. What it means is that the weather is milder than this time last year and people are outside enjoying the weather and stumbling across these little creatures.
The kit was found near a bike path in Hanover, Minnesota, with no mom in sight. It is a female and only weighs 161 grams. How tiny is that? Hold 32 nickels in your hand or an apple. She weighs less than most smartphones. That’s it!
She is about 6-7 inches long from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail. Her eyes and ears are still closed, she is toothless, and completely helpless at this stage of life. We are estimating she is about 1 week old.
She will need feedings every few hours around the clock, and is currently being cared for by a highly trained volunteer who can give her the attention she needs. Fox kits wean at an early age, so she’ll be a rambunctious little thing before we know it!
March 13th, 2012 at 6:28 pm
Such a cutie! So glad someone found her and she is safe now!
March 14th, 2012 at 12:20 pm
What a tiny, sweet baby! Is it likely that the mother left it? Or was the mother hiding to avoid the people?
March 14th, 2012 at 1:02 pm
Most likely some other predator – a raptor, dog, cat, coyote, etc., had picked it up and then dropped it. Probably scared due to people coming by. Wild animals are “programmed” to raise their young, so healthy babies aren’t typically orphaned by the parent. Young that are sick, weakly or have something wrong with them are however, often abandoned by the parent.
March 14th, 2012 at 2:41 pm
I was the one that found her! Will she be released back into the wild when she is old enough? And is there any way that I can visit her when she is a little older?
March 14th, 2012 at 2:48 pm
Ashley, thank you so much for noticing her and picking her up. She’s in good hands and as she grows older she’ll graduate to different levels of caging, including moving to an outdoor caging area before her release. I’m sorry you cannot visit her. We try very, very hard to keep wild animals wild so that when we do release them into the wild they don’t approach humans. Trust me: it’s one of the most challenging aspects of wildlife rehab for our volunteers. We’ll post updates on our Facebook page about her as she grows. Thank you again for taking the time to rescue and bring her to us!
March 19th, 2012 at 9:22 pm
When she was found she was not moving and very cold. I would say near death. We are not certain why she was left but the kit was there for a while and none of the childern touched her. When it was determined that she was alone and we took her home. We warmed her on a warm water pad. Once responsive, we fed her milk for pups that we could get at the local store.
We hope she makes it, she certainly is cute.
Thank you.