Many of you know this featured critter already from May’s Patient of the Month story. Remember this adorable fox kit? We’ve got an update!

Red Fox kit 25-071 is back in the spotlight because he was successfully released after five full months in care. 🎉

We’re sharing that release video with you today! 🎥

Rescuing Fox Kits

As a refresher — and because we’ll never skip an opportunity to share adorable fox kit photos — 25-071 came to RWS all by himself way back in mid-April after being found at a job site in Amherst County. Though initially admitted as a lone orphan, he charmed us all with his cautious yet playful antics towards his eventual “adopted” littermate: 25-172,  a fellow lone fox kit we admitted a couple weeks later.

When we first featured this dynamic duo, they were only at the “field trip” stage of their time at RWS. That means they were going outside to a pre-release conditioning enclosure during the day but our team then brought them indoors overnight for their safety. Soon after, we moved them outdoors full-time once we were more confident in their motor skills.  (Like puppies, fox kits can be a bit uncoordinated!) 

Growing Up at RWS

The two kits quickly took to their new digs by…digging, of course. 😆 They explored every nook and cranny, developing their burrowing and climbing skills. The two spent a lot of time sunning themselves on their privacy ramp as well! This built-in wooden ramp in the back of their enclosure has side paneling to give these naturally-elusive critters the chance to hide when we stop by to care for them. A quick peek around the corner of the privacy ramp during weekly wellness checks typically led to adorable glimpses like this. ⬇️

As days in care turned into weeks, the duo started looking less like kits and more like, well, foxes! We provided age-appropriate enrichment to help them hone their foraging and climbing skills, like food toys, native tree clippings, and kiddie pools on hot days. Yes, foxes can swim! 🏊

Mouse School

Before we knew it, the two fox kits were ready for live prey testing. This is a necessary step in the rehabilitation journey for any predatory species, like foxes and raptors. We need to know they can successfully hunt before we release them! To test their foraging skills, we put our foxes through “mouse school.” 📚 We provide each fox enclosure with a large, deep tub full of burrowing substrate, hidey-holes, and food and water. Then, we count out a set number of live mice per tub so we can see how many are left the next day. We also install a game camera in each enclosure so we can review footage and ensure the foxes are indeed successfully catching and eating their prey. 🐭

We know this process might sound morbid, but live prey testing is an essential part of any ethical and responsible wildlife rehabilitation program…and our Patient of the Month updates aim to pull the curtain back on how wildlife rehab works, after all! RWS maintains our own small mouse colony so we can ensure that the mice are raised with the compassion and love they deserve. We view them as essential members of our rehabilitation team, and we never take their contributions for granted.

Glow-in-the-Dark Fox Kits?

Pssst…ever wonder why many nocturnal animals seem to have eyes that glow in the dark like this? ⬆️ It’s not because they’re haunted. It’s their tapetum lucidum, a thin membrane that lines the back of the retina and reflects light back at the camera. 👁️

The tapetum lucidum enhances night vision because the reflective membrane bounces incoming photons (light particles) back through the eyeball’s photoreceptors (rods and cones). This basically gives the eye another chance to capture that light. 💡 The tapetum lucidum does lower visual acuity in bright environments, though, which is why many diurnal animals lack a tapetum…like us humans. Boooooo! We want glowy eyes, too!

Sweet Release!

You know what they say: they grow up so fast. 🥲

By early September, fox kits 25-071 and 25-172 had passed mouse school with flying colors and were ready for release! 🎓 After over four months in our care, 25-071 had blossomed into a beautiful, capable fox.

In early September, our team took the two foxes to a private, wooded property here in Nelson County for their big day. Late summer into fall is when wild fox kits leave the den to strike out on their own, so the timing of their release lined up perfectly with their natural life cycle. Once we opened the create doors, it didn’t take long for both foxes to dash out and start exploring! Check out the video below to watch them run back into the wild where they belong. Happy travels, you two! 🎉

Thank you for supporting our work so that 25-071 and hundreds of other animals get magical release moments, just like this.

We hope you’ll celebrate these success stories with us at our Soirée this November! 🎉⬇️

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