I was working today in the next village in a lovely garden, and the lady there told me about her injured fox she has been feeding. As she told me, the poor thing dragged itself into the garden, a very sorry sight. I think it must have been hit by a car, but it couldn't use it's back legs at all and was literally dragging its back end along. Tragic. The thing that made the sight even worse were the 2 magpies which were pecking away at it's rear end. The RSPCA had been in twice to try and find the fox but the ladies garden is surrounded by farmland, so it vanishes out of site, but after today, watching the magpies, she called the RSPCA again, and they are going to come back and put a cage trap down with some food in it to try and lure the poor thing into it so they can capture it and decide what to do. I imagine it will have to be put to sleep as it is in a pretty rough way. The garden owner knows that by feeding it she is only prolonging it's life, but she can't bear to think of the fox suffering. I will let you know the outcome of my sad story.
Sad, sad, sad. I would be like your neighbor and keep feeding the poor thing too. Being put down by the RSCPA will be a much better way to die than starving with the birds pecking at you.
Let's hope the trap catches the poor fox quickly. It won't be able to hunt for itself and will have a slow and agonising death if left alone. It's much better to have it put to sleep than have it infested with maggots, in pain, and having the birds pecking at it. A sad end though for a beautiful animal.
I hate to hear of animals that are injured and in distress. Hopefully the trap will work. Please keep us updated.
What a heart-breaking account, EJ. It does indeed sound as if it may have to be put to sleep...but ever the optimist, I still cross my fingers and hope that it can be saved.
I'm with you Netty. I can't get things like that out of my mind sometimes. I hope they can find him quickly too and take care of him. Maybe there will be a rehabilitation sanctuary where he can go. Lovely creature.
Sorry for the delay in updating you about this, what with the wedding, I was finally back in this garden today. After my last visit, the RSPCA came out over that weekend and managed to find the poor old fox - by now, he was in a very very bad way. They felt he had been run over, his back was completely broken, how he was still alive they didn't know. They kindly gathered him up and quietly and quickly, put him to sleep. The garden owner had asked if they thought they could save him, but they said that he was so poorly and weak, and the damage was so severe, the kindest thing was to let him go.
There are so many wild creatures that have been severely injured or killed by traffic. Many go undiscovered and die in agony either from their injuries or from starvation. The RSPCA did the right thing for the fox was by putting quickly (and painlessly) to sleep and alleviating any further suffering. Thanks for the update EJ.
Thanks for the update, Emma. I suspected this would be the outcome when you described the fox's injuries earlier. It was such a shame that the poor animal was injured so miserably instead of killed outright.
Thanks for the update. Such stories are hard to hear. Good of your friend not to give up until the RSPCA could find the poor thing.
