Fox in a fix as cub gets stuck in Walsall sports net
A fox cub had to be rescued when he got entangled in sports netting at a Walsall school.
The struggling cub, who is only a few weeks' old, was spotted by a member of the public last Wednesday at Whetstone Field Primary School in Beaufort Way, Aldridge.
The football netting had wrapped around the cub's neck and front right paw, leaving him frightened and unable to move.
RSPCA animal collection officer Cara Gibbon freed the cub by carefully cutting away the netting. She said: "As I was removing him, the cub's mum and dad ran over to see what was happening.
"As soon as I freed him, I popped him under the fence and he ran back to his mum and dad. It is so nice to have a rescue with a happy ending, especially as this could have been much worse for this little lad, as he could have panicked and got himself even more tangled, but thankfully we got there just in time."
The incident has prompted the animal charity to issue a warning to sports people using equipment like nets to remember to put them away after use to avoid similar cases.
Ms Gibbon added. "Netting such as goal nets pose a real hazard to our wildlife and sadly we get a lot of wild animals can get trapped in them. To prevent this from happening, we encourage people to remove the nets after use and store them safely away.
"Sadly, over the years we have had to remove far too many wild animals from sports netting, including hedgehogs and foxes. As these animals are nocturnal, they have normally been trapped and struggling all night and so by the time they are found in the morning, they can have very serious injuries and often need veterinary attention to sedate them and remove all the netting.
"Thankfully, it did not turn out like this for the fox cub, who was left uninjured."
For more information on the work of the RSPCA visit www.rspca.org.uk. You can donate £3 by texting HELP to 78866.
