A family from Tempe, Arizona got a big surprise recently when a baby fox followed them home after a walk around their neighborhood.
The Caballeros were out with their dog, a terrier mix named Olive, when the lonely 6-week-old fox spotted them.
She immediately began trailing behind the family as they made their way back to their home.
“It was funny because the fox thought our dog was the mom,” 5-year-old Dylan Caballero told 12 News.
The Caballeros had walked around the same area with Olive plenty of times before.
While they had seen packs of foxes occasionally on their previous walks, this time was different.
The tiny fox was all alone and her real mom was nowhere in sight. She spotted the terrier strolling by and got confused.
“It was really small and it was a gray fox, so kind of gray and it was like this big, the top of it was gray,” explained Preston Cabellero.
Both the fox and Olive had really similar colors.
Plus, Olive was about the size of a mama fox, so it was easy to see how the baby fox might make a mistake.
She followed the family back to their house and settled in for the night.
“It was about 10 o’clock, and when we got to a home with sprinklers on, the fox stopped and drank and drank,” said Rosalyn Caballero.
It was pretty surprising, but luckily, the Caballeros knew exactly what to do.
After taking Olive inside, they called the Southwest Wildlife Conservation Center (SWCC) and began searching for the actual mama fox. However, when they couldn’t find her, they decided to take care of the baby themselves.
“We got a container and went back to investigate the area. There was no mom, no other foxes around, so we captured it without touching it,” said Rosalyn.
They named the baby fox “Foxy” and brought her into their home.
All the while, they made sure that they didn’t get their scent on her in case the mama fox decided to show up again later.
However, when the mama fox failed to make an appearance, employees from the conservation center drove over to pick Foxy up.
“We rescued the fox and were able to syringe feed it for a few days, but now it understands how to eat out of a dish,” said veterinarian technician, Khymberly Lewus, who works with the SWCC.
Because she was so young, Foxy needed a lot of special attention.
However, she slowly progressed from a syringe to a bowl and continued growing bigger.
Now, she is just waiting to be relocated.
“We’re hoping to bond this fox to some of the other kits we’ve received this summer and release them back into the wild,” said Lewus.
Once the fox is big enough to take care of herself on her own, the SWCC will introduce her to some other foxes that they have received at their center. Then they will transport them all back out into nature to live free.
It’s a story that could have gone much differently and we’re so happy that it ended in a positive manner for Foxy.
The Caballero family saved the little fox’s life that day when they spotted her and called the center for help. Abandoned without her mom and left to fend for herself, Foxy never would have made it without their assistance.
Watch the full video of the news story of the baby fox’s rescue below.
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