Early in the morning on January 31, 2024, Nigel spotted a fox lying in the snowbank on the side of the road. The fox wasn’t moving. He was wet, dirty, and matted with road sand. Nigel was running late so he kept on driving.
On his way home that afternoon, Nigel, spotted the injured fox. The fox had repositioned himself and was shivering from the cold.
As he slowly approached the fox, it lifted its head and looked at him with sad, helpless eyes. He was weak and in obvious pain.
Nigel had taken animals into wildlife rehabbers before so he knew what to do. He called Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary to get instructions on how to safely contain the fox. He wrapped him up in his jacket, put him in a box and made his way to the sanctuary.
The fox did not resist at all. X-rays revealed his severe injuries. Both femurs were not only fractured and splintered but the bones were contracted. This meant that this was an older injury and the fox had been suffering like this for several days.
Dr. Cox, a wildlife veterinarian working with the sanctuary, was on her way to the airport and unable to come in for surgery for four more days. The doctor and sanctuary staff discussed options and wanted to give the fox an opportunity to survive. They tried to keep the fox comfortable on pain medication.
On surgery day, Dr. Cox was able to pin both legs in under 5 hours. Post surgery, his legs felt strong and his pain was greatly reduced. His activity increased and he showed interest in going home. Unfortunately, the fox, who was now named Tavi, took a turn for the worse. The pins in his left leg did not hold and had to be removed.
A tight wrap was put on instead, in hopes of stabilizing the leg, but Tavi ripped and chewed at this bandaged leg one night, creating lesions and open sores. It took a while but eventually it healed well, and they were able to remove the pins from the other leg. Currently, there are discussions about performing a bone marrow graft to the left leg, in hopes it will give it another chance to heal.
Amputation will be the last resort but even with only 3 legs, he will be able to return back home to the wild. A second chance at a wild life would never have been possible without the compassionate care at Woodlands Wildlife Sanctuary.
