The only thing that a concerned person could do when he saw a litter of puppies stranded in a storm drain was to phone the fire department for assistance. He had no other options.
The good news is that dedicated firemen are accustomed to receiving calls like this one and are always prepared to provide a helping hand. With the hope that they might be able to save the sad puppies, they hurriedly arrived at the scene.
Within a couple of minutes, a crew from the Colorado Springs Fire Department was able to safely retrieve what were believed to be eight black puppies.
When they found out that these newborn puppies were, in fact, baby red foxes, you can imagine how surprised they thought they were.
An Unexpected Surprise
According to testimony provided by Fire Captain Brian Vaughan to Inside Edition, the authorities just assumed that the individuals in question were “newborn black Labrador Retriever puppies and were actually concerned about this case of dog dumping.”
As they searched the region in the hopes of locating the mother, they discovered that she was nowhere to be found.
As a result of the firefighters’ successful rescue of eight teeny-tiny creatures from the storm drain, they made the decision to transport them to the Humane Society of the Pikes Peak Region in order to receive medical attention.
Everyone was shocked to learn that the “puppies” they had rescued were, in reality, young red foxes. This revelation came about at that location.
According to Fire Captain Vaughn, “They took them [to the shelter], and actually one of the veterinarians working at that location said, ‘No, these aren’t Labradors, these are foxes.’ That’s what they were.” Simply put, the firefighter was in a state of shock.
There were literally eight newborn foxes with dark red fur, and these were the eight pups!
It was noted by the veterinarian that “the neighborhood in which they discovered the baby foxes is located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, which means that foxes are actually quite common in that region.”
As a result, the firefighters were absolutely taken aback. The possibility that the puppies might not be puppies at all was not even a thought that occurred to them.
A group of firefighters in recovered what they believed to be pups from a storm drain… They are, however, red foxes, as it turns out!
What should we do at this moment?
Travis Sauder, who is the Wildlife Manager for the Colorado Parks and Wildlife District, expressed that he was not in the least bit surprised by the news.
“This time of year there are a lot of animals that are starting to have their young, and they have them in small dens that are places that we can encounter,” he said in an interview with CBS News.
Taking Care Of The Baby Foxes
Following the discovery that the creatures in question were, in fact, young red foxes, the authorities returned them to the storm drain in the expectation that the mother would still be present in the vicinity.
According to the animal clinic, the mother did not come back to retrieve her kids, which is a very unfortunate development.
After that, the foxes were sent to The Animal Clinic of Woodland Park, which is located in the state of Colorado, in order to undergo rehabilitation.
To answer your question, yes, a litter of eight red fox kits was discovered in Colorado Springs and sent to our wonderful rehabilitation facility. According to a post made by the clinic on Facebook, “Terri is finding it difficult to sleep because she has to feed them for hours.”
When they reached the age where they were able to care for themselves and were large enough, all of the foxes were returned to their natural habitat.
