Virginia Wildlife Center staff dress up in fox outfits to soothe rescued newborns
- The Richmond Wildlife Center posted a video of staff feeding a baby fox while wearing a fox mask to prevent the animal from imprinting on humans.
- The center used this video to raise awareness about the danger of rabies
A wildlife center in Virginia has tried to recreate the maternal experience of a rescued baby red fox by having their staff wear fox masks while feeding them.
The Richmond Wildlife Center posted the adorable message video of the center’s founder, Melissa Stanley, feeding the baby fox milk while wearing a fluffy fox mask.
Not only does it replicate the maternal experience between a mother fox and her kitten, the term used for young foxes, but it also aims to prevent imprinting – the way animals form a strong bond with their caretaker after birth.
The sweet clip showed the little animal suckling from a bottle held by the jazzed-up staff member as he wrapped himself around his own miniature cuddly fox.
“It is important to ensure that the orphans raised in captivity do not become imprinted or habituated to humans,” the caption of the Facebook post read.
The Richmond Wildlife Center in Virginia posted a video on Facebook showing the center’s founder, Melissa Stanley, feeding the baby fox while wearing the fox mask.
The center says it does this to prevent imprinting – or the way animals form a strong bond with their caregiver after birth.
“To prevent that, we minimize human noise, create visual barriers, reduce handling, reduce multiple transmissions between different facilities and wear masks for the species.”
The center said they have found more abandoned kits of the same age as their recently rescued specimen.
The rescued kit, the star of the video, weighs just 80 grams. The newborn was discovered by Richmond SPCA and given to the nature center on February 29.
It was initially thought to be a kitten, but upon closer inspection it was discovered that it was indeed a newborn baby fox, with unopened eyes and no teeth.
The center posted their video as a way to raise awareness of the danger of rabies.
The people who originally found the fox kit did not wear gloves when picking up the animal, which is dangerous for both the animal and the handler.
The center said proper protective equipment is needed when coming into physical contact with affected animals, domestic or otherwise, to prevent them from being killed and sent for rabies testing.
The center posted their video as a way to raise awareness of the danger of rabies
The center also informed its audience that rabies does not only occur in animals that behave erratically. The center has reported two cases of rabies in domestic cats in the past five years, but none in foxes.
“While the risk of rabies transmission from this newborn fox kit is minimal, given the statistics on foxes in the City of Richmond, the animal has no teeth and is dehydrated with less saliva in its mouth, the risk is not zero,” the center said . in a Facebook post on March 1.
The center also said it will try to locate the kit’s mother.
The adorable video has been viewed nearly 1,000 times, with users applauding the center for its diligent work in caring for the fox kit.
One person wrote: ‘So cute! Thank you for your great work!’
Another said: ‘Looks successful! keep up the great work.’
Others donated to the nature center’s fundraiser. They wrote: ‘Donated! thank you for everything you do!’
Wearing masks while caring for newborn animals is not an uncommon practice.
In 2022, a wildlife sanctuary in China had its employees dress in panda outfits covered in bear feces and urine in an attempt to erase the panda’s memory of human contact.