PREVIEW

Last month, a woman named Andrea was walking in Toronto when she noticed a red fox lying on the side of the road.
She called the Toronto Wildlife Centre, whose representatives soon noticed that the fox allowed itself to be captured and fainted immediately afterwards.
“I’ve been doing wildlife rescue for almost 11 years,” one rescuer stressed in a press release. “I’ve only seen a fox play dead once before.”
Also known by its Latin name Vulpes vulpes, the red fox is a large true fox found across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus parts of North Africa.
While the Pampas fox of South America is known to play dead when startled – refusing to move until the perceived threat disappears – accounts of the red fox playing dead are scarce.
Once transferred to a wildlife hospital, veterinarians tended to this wild fox by attempting to rehydrate it.
After a few days, they began to suspect the fox was suffering from rodenticide poisoning – having ingested rat poison.
The team understood that this fox needed a blood transfusion, but only had cat and dog blood available.
They undertook the procedure using dog blood.
It worked.
“By the end of the procedure, the fox already seemed a bit brighter,” a Toronto Wildlife Centre representative wrote in their press release. “[B]y the next day he was more aware and responsive.”
Although this red fox recovered from the poisoning, National Park Service biologist Seth Riley told The Dodo that many animals cannot receive treatment and therefore rat poison can travel up the food chain.
“The truth is, the only reason people have been using poisons for a long time is that it’s quick, easy and cheap,” Seth said. “There are a ton of ways to solve pest problems without using poison — and various folks have been working hard on every level to ask people to stop using them and for stores to stop selling them. As long as these animals continue to be exposed, it will clearly continue to be an issue.”
Biologists urge homeowners and pest controllers to use more sustainable removal practices.
Rat poison not only affects the animal who ingests the initial substance, but also any predator who then eats them.
As animals eat rats who have ingested poisons, the poison concentrations increase up the food chain in a process called bioaccumulation.
Even second-hand, these toxins weaken immune systems and can lead to death.
The red fox found on the side of the road in Toronto, however, is now stable and eating well.
“[H]e needs a full 30-day treatment to help his body recover,” the Toronto Wildlife Centre spokesperson asserted. “And then, happily, he’ll be released back into the wild to continue his life!”