Construction Workers Discover Wild Animal Trapped Inside Pipe in Downtown San Fransisco

A group of construction workers made a surprising find while on the job last weekend. They heard noises from inside of a length of unused pipe at a construction project near Oracle Park—the home of the San Fransisco Giants—and soon realized that what appeared to be the head of a baby fox was poking out from one end. One worker placed a french fry near the fox in an attempt to draw it out from the pipe, but it became apparent that the fox was stuck.

Officials from San Fransisco Animal Care and Control responded to the incident and called in the local fire department to support them. Firemen used four power saws to help extricate the small critter, according to a San Fransisco Fire Department Twitter post. The removal process took approximately a half-hour to complete.

Officials say that the fox kit is no older than six weeks. It was transported to the Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue to recover, where it was given several baths to remove the dirt and oil from its fur and is being fed a diet of hard-boiled eggs, berries, and mice. “She is emaciated and dehydrated but doing surprisingly well considering,” Yggdrasil Urban Wildlife Rescue director Lila Travis told SFGate. “Our job is to get her stabilized, hydrated, and eating on her own.”

Wildlife veterinarians with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) were consulted to identify the fox’s species. “There was concern that the pipe might have been brought to the job site from the Sacramento area, where imperiled Sacramento Valley red foxes are known to make their burrows,” explains the CDFW in a Facebook post. “But after examining the photos, and confirming that the pipe originated in the Bay Area, it was determined that the little pup is a common gray fox.”

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Wildlife officials say the young gray fox is expected to make a full recovery and will be released into suitable habitat when it’s ready.