Fox trending news how to#

“A lot of times, deer fawns don’t need to be saved,” Finch said.

It also provides an opportunity to discuss how to safely handle the animal.Ĭalling ahead, Finch said, is particularly important when dealing with deer fawns and rabbits, which are frequently left alone as their mothers forage. Calling ahead allows a wildlife rehabilitator to assess the situation and ensure the animal needs veterinary care or is truly orphaned, and to make sure the facility is equipped to deal with the specific species. She noted the importance of calling a licensed wildlife rehabilitator before intervening with a suspected injured or orphaned animal. “Wild animals - in the spring, that’s what I do,” Finch said. In addition to the fox pups, the Veterinary Teaching Hospital’s exotics department has been busy caring for a variety of orphaned and injured wildlife, including a badger, several raccoons and numerous species of birds.įinch said it is not uncommon during the spring and early summer for her team to routinely have five or six wild animals brought into the clinic daily. “We hope their natural instincts kick in enough that they can be successful in feeding themselves and then we will release them.”

“We need to make sure they have the instincts to catch food because, obviously, I can’t teach them,” Finch said. Before being released, the pups will be tested with live prey like quail or mice to ensure they can hunt for themselves. She is hopeful they will soon be moved into an outdoor enclosure in an area with good habitat for foxes where they can continue to grow and mature. The goal, Finch said, is to release the foxes into the wild. The pups arrived at WSU, the only licensed wildlife rehabilitation facility in Whitman County, on May 24 after they were discovered by their den near Dusty, Washington, located roughly 40 miles west of Pullman. “We had to give them fluids the day they arrived because they were a little dehydrated, and we treated them for parasites, but, fortunately, they were just old enough to eat on their own.” “Thankfully they are pretty autopiloted,” said Nickol Finch, an exotics and wildlife veterinarian at WSU’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital leading the care of the young animals.

A litter of seven fox pups has found a temporary home at Washington State University after being left orphaned when their mother was struck and killed by a car in eastern Washington.

Fox trending news how to#