Volunteers Use Sardines to Save Four Sick Foxes in Ontario

When fox sightings exploded on Collingwood social media pages, volunteers knew they had to act fast to save animals suffering from a skin disease that would kill them by winter.

Simcoe County Emergency Animal Response (SCEAR) spent weeks studying the foxes' movements, setting traps baited with sardines, and even crawling through culverts to rescue four foxes they believe are a family. All four are now receiving treatment for mange at wildlife sanctuaries across Ontario.

"When it comes to foxes, it can be a little bit time consuming because we need a lot of sightings in a certain area to place a trap and understand their routine," said Erin Longo, response supervisor with SCEAR. Home security cameras from concerned residents made tracking the smart animals much easier.

The rescue wasn't simple. Foxes are intelligent creatures that avoid anything new in their environment, so Longo visited her sardine-baited traps daily for a week before success. The breakthrough came when volunteers cornered the first fox in a culvert with only two exits, making capture possible.

Within 10 days, they had the second fox. Then residents reported trapping one themselves, which turned out to be two more hiding in the same culvert. One volunteer crawled through the entire tunnel to gently push a fox toward the exit where another rescuer waited.

SCEAR launched just last December as a volunteer organization serving all of Simcoe County. The nonprofit has three board members and five volunteers who transport injured wild and domestic animals to rehabilitation centers, veterinarians, and shelters at no cost to the community.

Why This Inspires

This rescue shows the power of everyday people working together. Residents sent daily emails tracking fox locations, shared security footage, and stayed engaged for weeks to help animals they'd never meet again. The volunteers who crawled through culverts and checked traps daily did it without pay, driven purely by compassion.

Mange is a contagious skin disease that causes hair loss and prevents foxes from hunting and surviving winter. "This is a particularly bad year for mange," Longo said, explaining why quick action mattered so much. Bear Creek Exotic Animal Sanctuary confirmed they're treating five foxes with severe sarcoptic mange using antibiotics.

The organization survives entirely on donations and works with specialized wildlife centers across the region, matching each animal with the right care facility. SCEAR promises to update the Collingwood community once the foxes fully recover and return to the wild.

No new fox sightings have been reported in Collingwood since the rescue, suggesting this family was the source of all the social media buzz. Thanks to watchful neighbors and committed volunteers, four wild animals got a second chance at life.