A tiny fox cub was stuck in a drain for nine hours before being rescued.
The animal was first discovered on Sunday afternoon by residents of Humberston, Lincolnshire, who heard its barking under a street grate.
They called firefighters who confirmed the animal was stuck 2 feet underground in a 4-inch-wide wastewater pipe.
When they were unable to reach the animal, Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue were called, along with engineers and vets from Anglian Water.
The fox – named Valor by rescuers – had crawled through about 300 meters of underground pipes before becoming stuck.
Water engineers used specialized thermal imaging cameras and probes to pinpoint the fox’s exact location.
Rescuers continued to dig for more than nine hours before there was enough room to carefully pull the fox through the narrow pipe.
The cub underwent surgery after suffering ‘multiple wounds’ and is expected to make a full recovery.
A tiny fox cub was stuck in a drain in Lancashire for nine hours before being rescued
Concerned residents called the fire brigade and they confirmed that the animal was stuck 60 cm underground in a 10 cm wide wastewater pipe.
The fox had crawled through about 300 meters of underground pipes before becoming stuck
The exhausted fox – named Valor by rescuers – is expected to make a full recovery
A spokesperson for Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue said: ‘The fox was discovered by residents looking through the grates of a street drain after hearing noises.
‘They had already tried to save it themselves by removing the drain covers, but it was clear the fox couldn’t get out on its own.’
Humberside Fire and Rescue Service were called first but were forced to abandon the mission.
Anglian Water engineers took over and used specialist cameras to show where the animal was trapped.
Cleethorpes Wildlife Rescue wrote about the rescue on their Facebook page: ‘For a few minutes we stopped, asked everyone involved, “Do you have any ideas?”, and then methodically worked on each idea.
“In the end, there was enough room for the fox to get a good portion of its head and neck out.” But he still couldn’t escape.
‘Our lead rescuer managed to get his hands into the pipework and discovered that there was a trap behind the hole and that his front legs were actually stuck in something.
‘We tried to lower the water level in the drain even further and suddenly discovered that its front was actually almost upright, similar to an old pillory used for public humiliation.’
The exhausted fox perhaps had been stuck in the drain for several days before his screams were heard.
