Animal rescuers find 'distressed fox' actually a 'stuffed fox'

Nobody wants to see an animal in distress, and luckily this one wasn't.

Animal rescuers in Britain responded to a call about a collapsed fox on Monday (April 8th), but when they arrived they found it was a dead fox that had been stuffed by a taxidermist.

RSPCA Inspector Ellie Burt said she was summoned Monday to a home in Exeter, Devon, where a resident spotted a fox that appeared to have collapsed while hiding under a bush.

"The fox was described as lethargic and collapsed in the undergrowth. The caller said it had been losing weight in recent weeks and hadn't moved for the past few days,"

Burt said."We asked them to try the broom test -- to ensure the fox was still alive -- and were told that it didn't move but tracked them with its eyes and seemed to be breathing well," she said.

Burt said she quickly realized the caller had been mistaken.

"As soon as I arrived I realized that this wasn't a live fox -- but a dead fox who'd been stuffed by a taxidermist," she said. "He'd clearly been placed under a bush outside of the houses as a prank. After speaking to some of the neighbors, I soon discovered that someone had been moving it around the neighborhood."

A rescuer said, "He'd clearly been placed under a bush outside of the houses as a prank. After to speaking to some of the neighbors, I soon discovered that someone had been moving it around the neighborhood."