Rescue - 8th March, 2024
Rehabilitation - 9th March, 2024
Rescue
Meet Gargantua!
Clearly his parents got an early start on mating season! Having been rescued by the team at Moonstone Rescue from Oxford Circus, we had to give him the name "Gargantua"... because he was just that!
Weighing in at a whopping 1.6kg already, Gargantua was the 2nd fox cub anomaly that we have seen in the last few years, where the youngster has been substantially older than the average fox cubs we would, for the time of year.
Rehabilitation
Unfortunately, having been found in the middle of a busy road, looking lost and confused, locating his den was near impossible. Being almost an entire month older than other cubs, our hopes for a successful rehabilitation and release for Gargantua relied on him being with others of a similar age and size. So, we went on the search, the search for an adopted sibling for Gargantua, but to no avail.
Our fears of Gargantua being on his own for much longer than we'd ever want for a fox cub were growing. But, the arrival "Pal" a young male, reported following people around Crystal Palace train station arrived 10 days after our search began.
With the difficulty of locating Pal’s den and his very obvious bloated abdomen, sadly, he was unable to be reunited with his family, and weighing just 200g less than Gargantua, Pal was introduced to his new 'big brother'.
Whilst the pair were of a similar age, they couldn't be more different in personality. Pal is taking his little brother duties pretty seriously, annoying Gargantua at every opportunity. Whilst his big bro tries to sleep, Pal does not, where Gargantua behaves like a good wild fox cub should, Pal does not!
With time and Gargantua's school of discipline, Pal learnt proper fox etiquette, proving again how vital it is for any orphan animal to be rehabilitated with others of its own kind, to give them the very best chance to survive in the wild.
The pair were soon joined by young female Blue, who rightly, became the leader of this newly formed trio, don't let her size fool you!
With the decker boys joining them several weeks later, the five became our first group to head out to their soft-release site. In just 6 weeks time, around mid-july, they will be let loose, into the wilds of their release site!
