Firefighters rescue tiny fox cub trapped between two walls

By Bradley Stokes via SWNS

A tiny fox cub that was trapped in a 3-inch gap behind a garage wall was rescued by firefighters who chiselled through concrete blocks to reach the terrified animal.

The six-week-old cub is thought to have been abandoned by its mother before it got itself wedged between two outside walls.

The alarm was raised when staff at Willis Lodge Care home in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts., spotted the animal on their doorstep last Friday (18/3).

They saw the terrified fox run away to a nearby property where it became wedged in a 3ins (8cm) gap between a garage and a stone wall.

The Hope Animal Rescue Centre (HARC) were called to rescue the cub but were unable to reach the stricken animal so dialled 999.

A crew from Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service spent more than an hour chiselling through the concrete wall of the garage before hauling the fox free.

The animal was taken to a wildlife sanctuary with its sibling which was found cowering under a hedge nearby.

Sue Buck, the founder of HARC, said: “The one cub had run away from a care home
after a resident opened the door and the cub got frightened.

"He ran away from the care home, across a road, luckily unharmed.

"He dived down a gap between the wall and the garage of a house and got stuck. He was jammed by his head and could not move backwards or forwards.

"We could not a grab on him either so then the firefighters had to take a brick out of the wall.

"When we were trying to sort the cub between the wall, another neighbour found the other cub hiding under their hedge.

"The woman who found the second cub in her garden, looked after it in the hope that the mum would hear them call. The vixen never came.

"They're very old for this time of year so we think it's possibly a young vixen who was having child control problems.

"A likely explanation is that they were out hunting with their mother and got separated.

"In countryside, the cubs would all stay at the den while the mum goes out hunting.

"In an urban area, because they are disturbed so much, they often attend scrounging for food with their mother.

"The cubs don't have the same security in urban areas. But the main thing is, is that they are doing well."

The foxes were taken to Linjoy Wildlife Sanctuary in Etwall, Derbys., where they will be cared for before being released into the wild.