Simon had telephoned our vets prior to leaving home and explained that we didn’t know what we might find but were they prepared to treat the fox if necessary, and they didn’t hesitate to say yes. We set off armed with carrier, thick gloves, sack, blanket, bolt croppers, water and camera. We duly arrived at the address supplied to be met by a lady and gentleman who seemed extremely relieved to see us and were heard to say to the fox “Don’t worry the professionals are here now”. We hadn’t the heart to say we had only previously dealt with foxes in boxes!

We were directed to an area behind their large garage where, with a tight squeeze, we can see a poor fox with his rear leg caught in the wire fencing with his front paws just touching the ground. However, he was actually the other side of the fence where the nettles were waist high, and guess which two novices had dashed out in their shorts?! Using the carrier as the ‘front man’ we pushed our way through and soon reached one very distressed fox who was trying very hard to take a chunk out of one or both of us. The gentleman the other side of the fence stood by with the bolt croppers and between us we managed to get the fox in the sack and hang on whilst the wire was cut away. A textbook rescue and everyone was impressed—especially Simon and myself! We could see the wire had cut into the leg down to the bone and the fox was fly blown. We dashed back through the nettles, fox now in carrier, thanked the people and made for our vet’s.

The wire had twisted right around the rear leg and the fox was not keen on letting the vet have a close inspection. Simon assisted in getting the fox out of the carrier and had a hold of the fox by the scuff of it’s neck but, pride goes before a fall and as he triumphantly lifted the fox onto the table, the fox managed to sink his teeth straight through the gloves and into his hand (the one freshly out of plaster) - no sign of any gratitude! It was decided to give him (the fox not Simon) a light sedative to allow the treatment to go ahead. We elected to remain and assist. The fox was soon snoring on the table but Stuart, the vet, said he had to work quickly as the sedative would only last for approximately twenty minutes. The wire was carefully removed and the whole wound powdered, a long lasting antibiotic injection was given and the area around his bottom and base of tail was clipped and treated for the fly eggs. Fox was then checked all over and an old injury found (believed to be from a vehicle accident) which wasn’t causing any problems. The fox started to come round so he placed him quickly back into the carrier.

Back at home fox was given chicken breast (which was going to be our meal) and water, under telephone directions from Samantha and left to quietly recover in the garage.
Arrangements were made for the fox, who we named ‘Duke’ to go to Paul & Marie to convalesce, and thinking it would be less stressful for the fox, we got him there as soon as possible. We set off, arriving at 10:45pm. and Paul let us see Duke into his quarters — Paul and Marie are ‘Professionals’ and at the time of our visit had fifteen foxes in residence. Not bad for people who once told me they originally got involved with wild animals by saying to someone that they had the facilities to care for injured hedgehogs!

Off we set back home, with arms and legs covered with nettle rash and Simon’s hand throbbing nicely — he’s always been accident prone!
As a post note we would like to thank Mr and Mrs Durose who are very pro-fox and persisted in their efforts to get the fox help — the RSPCA, even after two telephone calls, stated that they couldn’t send anyone. We have updated Mr and Mrs Durose as to the current situation with the fox, and they have said if at all possible they would like the fox releasing back into their garden.
Thanks to Cooper and Partners Vets of Uttoxeter, especially Stuart Brown — who agreed so readily to help and has since enquired into the progress of the fox. And a big thank you to Paul & Marie who let us leave Duke in their safe hands at such short notice and such a late visit.
P.S. We will now be investing in some thicker gloves just in case, and Simon’s hand is healing now!
Helen & Simon Hollis.

Sparky Updated
After a couple of days and not knowing the fox was already named Paul and Marie decided to call the fox Sparky. Originally it was thought that Sparky was only in for a week or so for rest but after visiting their vet the injury was a little bit worse than thought.
The bone was showing through the horrific injury and pain killers were given along with the wound being cleaned up again. Paul and Marie’s vets decided that the fox should be brought in every two days for two weeks.
At each visit the necrotic skin removed. There was a concern that the skin all around was dying and no new skin was regenerating.
Eventually after two weeks positive skin regeneration could be seen so the vets started using a mesh like substance to crystallise the tissue and help knit the wound together.
The pictures below show Sparky at the vets and the condition of the wound. It must be said the picture showing the wound was after many days of treatment.
At time of writing (6th August) Sparky is due for release in roughly four days. We will have an update for you then.
Special thanks to: