QueenScoopalot
11-14-2004, 10:32 AM
http://fredericksburg.com/News/apmethods/apstory?urlfeed=D86A2ORG0.xml
The Associated Press
PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia
Featured Advertiser
Shirley Tompkins and her husband Bob began helping a wounded fox last winter. Now a second also is showing up at their trailer.
"A little red fox showed up last February with a broken front left leg, walking on three legs," Shirley Tompkins said. "You could tell it was swollen and painful and he had difficulty moving.
"We knew he couldn't fend for himself without being able to dig and would probably starve, so we gave him some wieners."
The fox, which the couple nicknamed Red, became a regular visitor, going onto the verandah of the Tompkins' trailer outside this central British Columbia town to eat wieners and raw meat from Bob Tompkins' hand but refusing to be petted.
"If you put out your hand to pet it, it would back right off," Shirley Tompkins said.
Red now shows up about every third day, still limping but in better health with a rich, glossy coat of fur, she said.
One day recently Red was accompanied by a silver fox that was badly limping on three legs, and the second animal has become a daily visitor, she said.
"It's a beautiful, younger male fox we think could be an offspring, and it has a hind leg hip injury," she said. "I know I'm not supposed to feed wild animals, but these foxes would not have survived without some help."
The Associated Press
PRINCE GEORGE, British Columbia
Featured Advertiser
Shirley Tompkins and her husband Bob began helping a wounded fox last winter. Now a second also is showing up at their trailer.
"A little red fox showed up last February with a broken front left leg, walking on three legs," Shirley Tompkins said. "You could tell it was swollen and painful and he had difficulty moving.
"We knew he couldn't fend for himself without being able to dig and would probably starve, so we gave him some wieners."
The fox, which the couple nicknamed Red, became a regular visitor, going onto the verandah of the Tompkins' trailer outside this central British Columbia town to eat wieners and raw meat from Bob Tompkins' hand but refusing to be petted.
"If you put out your hand to pet it, it would back right off," Shirley Tompkins said.
Red now shows up about every third day, still limping but in better health with a rich, glossy coat of fur, she said.
One day recently Red was accompanied by a silver fox that was badly limping on three legs, and the second animal has become a daily visitor, she said.
"It's a beautiful, younger male fox we think could be an offspring, and it has a hind leg hip injury," she said. "I know I'm not supposed to feed wild animals, but these foxes would not have survived without some help."