Friday afternoon marked the second attempt by Sauvetage Animal Rescue to safely remove the fox from the basin before the ice melts.
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A rescue operation was underway Friday to save a red fox that appeared to be stuck on the ice floes slowly breaking up in the city’s Old Port basin.
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Roughly a dozen rescuers from Sauvetage Animal Rescue were on the scene Friday afternoon hoping to capture the fox in order to free it in a safe location. They set up a trap on a dock near the King Edward Pier, with bait inside to lure the fox, but after an hour, the fox was still a no-show, apparently hiding. This was the second time the team attempted to rescue the fox.
The first attempt last week was unsuccessful, as rescuers had planned to lure the fox into the water, where divers were waiting to catch it.
The team wrote on its Facebook page that it is asking the public to keep noises to a minimum so as not to scare the fox. A small crowd gathered to watch the operation take place. Among those watching on Friday was Sharon Bellenger, who called the rescue organization a few days ago to report the trapped fox.
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“I started seeing the fox the morning of March 8,” said Bellenger, who lives in the Old Port. “I’ve been seeing him every day, mostly at sunrise and sunset. He’s very active at sunset.”
Bellenger said it appears the fox does not know how to return to a safe spot, and she worries about what will happen when all the ice melts.
“I saw him do his business on the ice a few times, so he must have access to food,” she said. “I think he must be finding pigeons or something. There is a way for him to get underneath the pier.”
This is the first time Bellenger has seen a fox in the Old Port since she moved to the area in 2006.
“I had seen footprints in the snow near the water a few weeks ago and was wondering what they were,” she said. “Finally my question was answered (when I saw the fox).”
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Bellenger added that the fox doesn’t appear to be in distress, at least for now.
“He seems fine, actually. I’ve seen him get a little frisky, jumping around, bounding; I’ve seen him slide on the ice. It looks like he’s almost playing, so it looks like he’s OK,” she said. “I want this fox to be saved, because if it stays out there on the ice, I don’t think it will survive.”
A spokesperson for the rescue operation told Le Journal de Montréal that if the second attempt was unsuccessful, the teams will once again try to chase the fox into the water and capture it once it’s swimming.
