Working with wildlife rehabilitation is not all cute little fuzzy animals. Sometimes you have a sad day. Today was just a day. The fox escaped that came in in May; he was about 4 months old and it was at least 2 months before he was due to be released. As a matter of fact, he hadn't been completely weaned. He wasn't being bottle fed, but he still drank milk from a bowl. Even though I kept trying to wean him, I'd always after a couple of days start giving him milk again. He just wouldn't get enough nutrition otherwise. Often if you have "slow learners," as this one appears to be, you have to keep them over winter.

This isn't the first time he's escaped, and it always happens the same way; someone decides to mow their lawn. I've talked to all my neighbors and asked them to tell me if they're going to mow so I can move the fox inside, but they don't seem to understand how long you have to keep an animal if they come in as an infant. I gather they thought since I'd asked them a month ago that they didn't need to worry about it know. The problem is that you don't just take care of them for a couple of weeks while they are cute and cuddly; you keep them for months and month, and you usally have to maintain them until they are nearly grown, for up to a year.

This fox was getting wild, so perhaps he'll survive. The first time he escaped, I caught him as he came trotting up the path. The second time he came back half-starved after three days. The problem is: this time, he was big enough to have hurt himself if he squeezed through the gap between the gate and the post. He may be torn up and if he's bloody, his chances of surviving through the night aren't nearly as good. The smell will attract predators. Meanwhile I have a family of four raccoons living in a woodpile in my yard, and papa -- a fifth raccoon and a loner -- still shows up nightly to see if there's anything good to eat.