Outdoors

Baby fox rescued after getting tightly tangled in soccer net

If you’ve ever left sports gear out after playing at the cottage, this video will make you think twice next time.

Captured by Wildlife Aid Foundation—an organization that has been saving wildlife in the UK for more than 30 years, and is featured on Animal Planet’s television series Wildlife SOS—this heartwarming video has an important lesson.

“It’s amazing how many hazards wildlife comes across, which we just never consider to be hazards,” says Simon Cowell, founder of the Wildlife Aid Foundation, as he clips through the thick netting.

As Cowell frees the fox kit’s body from the netting, he holds him by the scruff of the neck so that he can carefully remove the kit’s paws.

After some assessment, Cowell concludes the kit doesn’t have any constriction wounds, which is a big plus. The kit’s legs, however, are numb from being tangled for so long. As Cowell massages the little guy’s legs to get them going again, the kit nips at Cowell’s hands, a good sign he’s still well.

Because of dangers like cars and incidents like these, many fox kits don’t make it to their first birthday, says Cowell. And while this one eventually runs off into the nearby woods, it’s heartbreaking to think about what would have happened if he hadn’t been found and freed.

As the Wildlife Aid Foundation points out in the video’s description: “All of this could have been avoided by simply rolling up the net or putting it away.”