An Australian driver has shared footage of the astonishing moment he discovered a live red fox stuck in the grille of his car after hitting the wild animal at 50mph.
The man said he was driving along a Virginia road on the northern outskirts of Adelaide on Saturday evening when he felt something hit the front of his Hyundai.
“You all thought you were having a bad day,” the man said as he filmed the panicked, trapped fox biting the grille in a desperate attempt to escape.
He shared a series of videos on social media from a personal account called Ace side recordswhich showed that the excited animal was waiting to be rescued.
An Australian driver has shared footage of the moment he discovered a live red fox stuck in the grille of his car after hitting the wild animal at 50mph.
He shared a series of videos on social media as he waited for a vet to save the animal
Social media users urged the man to “close the lid” to release the animal. The driver explained that he did, but he “couldn’t even see him through the hood.”
Others suggested he “rip the bumper off.”
He captioned a third video, “Things get a little more intense with the escape plan,” as he explained that an emergency vet was on the way.
In the last video he showed a team starting to tranquilize the fox.
Many people were genuinely curious about the animal’s well-being afterwards.
“The vet sedated him and we got him out safely, but I’m not sure what happened next,” the video poster said.
The clips have been viewed nearly a million times and received hundreds of comments.
‘How can this even happen?’ someone asked.
“Ask him what the fox said!” another joked.
“You would never believe the insurance company if you didn’t have that video,” a third person commented.
According to the latest research from insurer AAMI, animal collisions have increased by 22 percent year-on-year.
The report shows that 54 percent of Australian drivers have been involved in a collision with animals and more than 40 percent of drivers do not pay attention to wildlife warning signs.
AAMI Motor Claims Manager Leah James urged drivers to slow down.
‘To avoid a collision with wildlife, slow down when you see warning signs, scan the road ahead and use your peripheral vision to keep an eye on the edges for animals feeding or on the road. about to cross,” she said.
‘Paying attention to wildlife signals may not prevent a collision with animals, but it will help you prepare so that you are less likely to swerve if you are shocked.’