Just hours after making an appearance online, a locally popular fox is now in the care of experts. On Tuesday, residents of Barrie, Ont., took to social media to share photos of a sickly fox known to live around the Minet’s Point area. The post featuring the fox was not the first of its kind on local social media pages. The photos of the visibly ill-looking animal were shared in a post by a resident asking neighbours what they could do to help the creature. A short while later, Simcoe County Emergency Animal Response (SCEAR) stepped in. “Over the past week, our team has received numerous calls about a severely ill fox along Lakeshore Drive in Barrie, with possible sightings near Minet’s Point,” SCEAR said on social media. According to SCEAR, staff members had made multiple attempts in the past to contain the animal but had been unsuccessful. SCEAR said the fox was was limping, suffered from severe mange and was in “desperate” need of help. “Despite its illness, the fox continued to show its natural instincts and would take flight whenever we attempted to approach and contain it,” SCEAR said. “We knew we needed to be patient, give it space and wait for the right opportunity.” In a social media post late Tuesday night, the animal response organization confirmed the critter had been captured. “The fox will now be transferred into the care of a wildlife rehabilitation and veterinary service, where it can receive proper medical attention, treatment, and a chance to recover,” SCEAR said. The organization went on to thank locals for posting online about the fox as well as calling in sightings. “Those calls made a difference and helped us locate this fox,” SCEAR said.
