A fox cub has been pulled out of the River Ouse in York by one of the York Rescue Boat team.
At 5am (Mon 13 July) whilst out for an early morning walk, Mark Mullen and a friend, heard a splash in the Kings Staith area.
He told YorkMix Radio more: “Working for the rescue boat as a volunteer, I was concerned by that splash, so we ran over and had a look, and there was a little fox cub, that we’d seen earlier on, which had fallen into the river and was unable to swim.
“He just managed to get to some high ground, but he couldn’t swim any further. He or she, we don’t know whether it was male or female, couldn’t get out.
“My concern was that members of the public would go in to get him, which obviously brings its own risks. We might have ended up with a York Rescue Boat job for that.”
Mark also said that of course he couldn’t leave the animal there in the water anyway so had to take action.
Mark continued: “I went and got my rescue kit (He lives close by) got my dry suit on, swam round.
“He was very compliant. He came to me when I called him, and I grabbed hold of him, put him in a little bag, and we hauled him up.
“There was a lady had come over. She’d seen it all unfolding from the apartments opposite. I’d brought my towel from home, my bath towel. She’d brought a bath towel too, and we wrapped him up, got him dried off, and she took him off to go to the vet.
“He just sat there. He was really calm, and it was like having a pet. He wasn’t like a wild animal. Apparently, doing really well, and they’re hoping to release him shortly.”