Five baby foxes were rescued after they were found trapped in a tiny drain pipe in southern York County on Monday, April 6, according to firefighters and a local wildlife center.
In a release, the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center shared that they had been called on Monday morning by a man in York County who found two fox kits stuck in a small drainage field pipe.
According to the center, the man had already managed to free one fox kit, which then returned to the nearby den, but believed two more remained in the pipe.
The wildlife center staff then responded out to the property, and worked for around an hour to try to get the fox kits out of the drain.
After being unable to free the kits, the staff spoke with a York County 911 dispatcher, who sent the Alliance Fire & Rescue Services, stationed in both Red Lion and Felton boroughs, for assistance.
The firefighters were called to the scene on Delta Road in Windsor Township around 1:26 p.m. on April 6 for a non-emergent public service call, records show.
Upon the arrival of the first responders, personnel worked to dig into the ground, vacuum up dirt and debris, and slowly cut away the pipe with a hacksaw, resulting in the rescue of the first fox kit.
“The second kit proved to be trickier; more pipe needed to be cut back to free its little head from under the pipe,” the wildlife center shared in its release.
Upon the rescue of the second fox kit, however, the rescue team quickly realized that the job wasn’t yet done: there were more three more tiny foxes deeper in the pipe.
After a nearly four-hour rescue effort, all five kits were removed from the pipe, the wildlife center shared.
“Unfortunately, one of the kits did not survive,” the center said, noting that there “was a possibility of suffocation due to the number of foxes packed so tightly together, and we were uncertain how long they had been trapped.”
The surviving fox kits were taken for observation to ensure they were not suffering from any underlying issues, the wildlife center said, and will be returned to their family as soon as possible.
“We express our gratitude to the friendly dispatcher who sent us immediate help,” the wildlife center wrote, adding that they were “also extremely thankful for Captain Burkins and the firefighters who went above and beyond.”
“We truly rely on our first responders for their expertise and specialized equipment in rescues that we could never accomplish on our own,” the wildlife center wrote.
“Not all heroes wear capes.”
