KILDARE ANIMAL FOUNDATION: Are they kittens, puppies or foxes?

Spring is most definitely here when we see the arrival of our first fox cubs of the year — and we admitted our first two recently.

A lady out walking on a country lane with her dog heard a low crying sound coming from the grass.

There she found two tiny little creatures, soaked to the skin.

She picked up the shivering little bundles to comfort them and rushed home up with them safely inside her jacket.

They were only a few inches in length, and had beautiful dark chocolate fur, so she presumed they were kittens.

After drying them up, she noticed the little fluff balls looked more like puppies.

So she went off to the vets to get some puppy milk replacer. She was successfully able to get a feed of formula into them.

Over the next 24-hours, she noticed that the sounds they were making were not those of puppies or kittens. It was then clear that they had to be fox cubs.

The mother, while moving the little ones, must have taken fright and left them behind. The weather was bad, and the little ones were wet and cold, so the lady did absolutely the right thing to take them home.

She called our wildlife helpline for advice, and we agreed to take over their care.

She made the journey from Wexford to Kildare early the next morning.

The little cubs are now with a very experienced foster carer, and are thriving.

They will stay with her until they are weaned at about six weeks old, and then will come back to the shelter to begin their rehabilitation process back to the wild.

Please do remember that not all young animals need to be picked up, especially birds. Always ring for advice before taking them from their natural environment, unless they are in immediate danger.

FUNDRAISERS:

We have some fundraisers coming up in April:

Table Quiz — Bray

We are holding a table quiz in aid of the wildlife unit at Kildare Animal Foundation. This event is open to anyone and promises to be lots of fun. We will also have a raffle on the night so please do come along and help sick, injured and orphaned wildlife. The event will take place in the Harbour Bar in Bray, Wicklow, at 7.30pm on Thursday, April 25. For more information, please do contact us.

Table Quiz — Phibsborough

Another one of our great volunteers has planned a table quiz in the Hedigans (Brian Boru) pub in Phibsborough on Thursday, April 11, at 8pm. It promises to be a thrilling night of questions and laugh with lots of prizes to be won. We hope you can make it along.