Fox Cub Begins Long Recovery After Cop Rescues Her From Road

WAUCONDA, IL — Officer Richard Meehan received the most adorable call of his 13-year career on Monday.

Meehan, a police officer in Wauconda responded to a call from a concerned citizen who spotted some type of injured animal on the side of the road. Since the station regularly fields calls about wild animals, Meehan prepared to shoo away a raccoon or deer but instead scooped up a small red fox that needed immediate help.

"I thought it was a coyote or something," Meehan said of the baby fox, often called a "kit." "I also thought it was a boy, so I named her Homer and everything."

Once the red fox was safe inside the station, Meehan reached out to Dawn Keller at Flint Creek Wildlife Rehabilitation. Meehan said Flint Creek is often the department's first call when they encounter animals in need of care.

"This is our first fox kit of the year," said Keller, the founder and director of Flint Creek. "But there will be more."

Red fox litters are typically born in late March or early April, and Keller said the rehabilitation center could see as many as ten baby foxes before the year ends.

Flint Creek's primary goal is to provide medical care, food and shelter for an orphaned or injured animal until they can be returned to their natural habitat. Keller said this particular kit, however, has a long road ahead of her.

"She is showing signs of a pretty major brain injury, so she's definitely not okay to be returned to her mother even if we knew where her mother was," Keller said.

While it's too early to tell when the fox kit will heal, she will be raised in the meantime as naturally as possible with the other foxes in Flint Creek's care.

The rehabilitation center treats over three thousand animals a year, but Keller said their biggest issue isn't their number of animals, but the humans who bring them in.

"Animals are unintentionally harmed by well-intentioned people every single day," Keller said.

While baby foxes and other wildlife may be cute, Keller warned of the dangers of attempting to touch or care for an animal instead of calling a licensed rehabilitator. Leaving the work to professional rehabilitators and law enforcement enables the center to do its job more effectively, and police officers like Richard Meehan to ensure the animal gets to a safe place as soon as possible.

"When police get the chance to do something fun and positive in their community, we're happy to do it," Meehan said. "I was just about to give Dawn a call to check up on Homer."