Fox stuck with head in a watering can for several days

A fox was rescued after getting its head stuck in a discarded watering can. Credit RSPCA

October 2010. A fox was rescued after getting his head wedged inside a discarded watering can for at least two days. The entrapped animal was spotted in an agitated state running around in the back garden of a bungalow in Solihull, near Birmingham.

The RSPCA was called and found the animal so firmly stuck in the plastic container that it took two officers to prise out the animal's fur, a bit at a time, so they could force it off his head and free him. Following the release, the adult male fox was held with a grasper so that the inspectors could check he was not injured in any way and did not need veterinary attention.

He was found to be fit and healthy despite being deprived of food and water for at least two days and so was immediately released back into the wild. The watering can did not belong to the couple who lived at the property where he was found and looked like it had not been in use for some time.

RSPCA Inspector Jonathan Ratcliffe said: "The fox was thrashing about in quite a distressed state when we got there. I have no doubt that he would have died if we had not managed to get the watering can off, either from dehydration or from not seeing where he was going and so being killed by a car. My feeling is that there must have been a mouse or a frog or something at the bottom of the can - some sort of tasty snack which would have attracted him to put his head in. The watering can was covered in moss and mould and looked as if it was litter.

"This only goes to remind people of the dangers such discarded items can pose to wildlife."