Foxes at Stapeley


Every year , dur ing the spr ing and summer per iods Stapeley Grange is overwhelmed with sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. In just three months (May, June, July) we can take in over half of our annual total of admissions, which can equate to over 3,000 casualt ies.


During the very early part of spring we start to see some of the very f irst fox cubs being admit ted - this can be as early as the f irst week in March.


I can remember on many occasions having a group of fox cubs to hand rear as young as 48 hours old. It?


very demanding process but one that is also very rewarding, seeing the young orphaned cubs develop and grow each day, and birthday or not they st ill need feeding every 2 to 3 hours throughout the day and night .


s a


Fox cubs are admit ted for many dif ferent reasons - road traf f ic accidents, caught in net t ing, or fox den disturbed or dug up, but the main reason for fox cub admissions is them being orphaned or abandoned. Somet imes it?


4


mum being killed on the road or having been shot . The remaining fox cubs are just too young to look af ter themselves. Fox cubs are very act ive and mischievous and this is when they get themselves into trouble.


s as a result of From April to May it?


common to see month-old cubs developing survival skills above ground during the day being closely watched by their parents. Vixens may also move their cubs if they feel the den has been disturbed. It is so important that members of the public think twice about picking cubs up as of ten they are not actually orphaned. They should, if possible, be monitored for 24hrs to ensure they are truly orphaned.


s


Rehabilitat ing fox cubs is not as easy as you may think. We get upwards of 50-60 cubs each year and they can be admit ted for dif ferent reasons and at dif ferent t imes of the year.


On admission each cub/ cubs will be health checked and then isolated on its own for seven days to check they are f it and healthy before being micro-chipped and mixed in with other cubs as a family group of 5-6 cubs per group.


Some years we can have as many as eight groups of fox cubs to look af ter.


From t ime to t ime we will even get a lit ter of cubs ; these will of course be rehabilitated together. The rehabilitat ion process can be as long as six months if they come into us very young so keeping them wild is our main priority. Whilst in care the team will closely monitor the welfare of the foxes to make sure they are


Orphaned fox cubs pr ior to being t ransfer red to a sof t release cage


all thriving and disease-f ree but always f rom a distance. We also have CCTV links into our outside pens to minimise contact .


Over the years we have learned a lot about the rehabilitat ion of foxes and looked to improve the rehab units they live in here; to help improve the welfare of the foxes in our care. We have looked at dif ferent ways to entertain them, giving them lots of enrichment throughout the process to help keep them wild and develop key survival skills and other natural behaviours.


Around mid September and once the cubs have reached an age of maturity and independence I will start to look at releasing the cubs back out to the wild. This starts with f inding a suitable release site


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26