Wildlife Workers Dress Up to Care for Orphaned Fox

Wildlife Workers Dress Up to Care for Orphaned² Fox

　　In the eastern state of Virginia, employees of the Richmond Wildlife Center are doing their best to act like mother foxes. They started feeding and caring for a baby fox, called a kit³, when the young animal became separated from its mother.

　　The Associated Press reported that a video recently appeared on the center's page on the social media service Facebook. In the video, Executive⁴ Director Melissa Stanley is shown wearing a red fox mask and equipment like rubber gloves. She feeds the young fox in the video. The kit sits on top of a stuffed⁵ animal that looks like a fox. It is supposed to look like her mother, Stanley said.

　　The Facebook post explained why employees were wearing the fox mask to feed the baby animal. It also said workers are avoiding making human sounds and are preventing the kit from seeing its human caregivers. The post said the orphan¹ should not become too close to humans while it is being raised by them. The measures make it more likely that the kit could be returned to the wild.

　　Stanley said a man brought the kit to the center on February 29. She said he found the animal on the street while walking his dog in Richmond.

　　Thinking she was a baby cat, the man turned her over to the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Richmond SPCA). The Richmond SPCA is a nonprofit organization that takes in cats and dogs without owners and finds them homes.

　　Wildlife center employees tried to find the kit's mother and their home, or den⁶. They found the den, but they were told by officials that the foxes had been trapped and removed. Stanley said she thinks the fox kit either fell out of a trap or fell off the back of the trapper's truck.

　　Employees at the wildlife center have been taking turns feeding the kit every two to four hours. They all wear the fox mask while feeding her.

　　In addition to the large stuffed animal meant to look like the kit's mother, employees also put a smaller stuffed red fox in her space. She cuddles up to the smaller stuffed animal at the end of the video.

　　Stanley said, "The goal is to release⁷ the animals back into the wild." She added that the goal is not to just increase their chances of survival⁸, but to raise them to recognize other animals of their kind. Another goal she said was that the animals should reproduce⁹.

　　The center looked for other red fox kits¹⁰ of the same age and weight at other centers. Employees found three other kits in a center in northern Virginia.

　　The fox kit will be sent to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization in Virginia. That group plans to release the kits back into the wild together.

　　Words in This Story

　　fox – n. a wild animal of the dog family, with red-brown fur, a pointed¹¹ face and a thick heavy tail

　　mask – n. something that you wear over your face to hide it, or to frighten or entertain other people

　　stuffed animal – n. a toy in the shape of an animal, made of cloth and filled with a soft substance

　　orphan – n. a child whose parents are dead

　　cuddle up – v.(phrasal) to sit or lie very close to somebody/something

　　recognize – v. to know who somebody is or what something is when you see or hear them or it, because you have seen or heard them or it before

1 orphan   

n.孤儿；adj.无父母的

参考例句：

• He brought up the orphan and passed onto him his knowledge of medicine.他把一个孤儿养大，并且把自己的医术传给了他。
• The orphan had been reared in a convent by some good sisters.这个孤儿在一所修道院里被几个好心的修女带大。

2 orphaned   

[计][修]孤立

参考例句：

• Orphaned children were consigned to institutions. 孤儿都打发到了福利院。
• He was orphaned at an early age. 他幼年时便成了孤儿。

3 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

4 executive   

adj.执行的，行政的；n.执行者，行政官，经理

参考例句：

• A good executive usually gets on well with people.一个好的高级管理人员通常与人们相处得很好。
• He is a man of great executive ability.他是个具有极高管理能力的人。

5 stuffed   

adj.充满的；饱的v.塞住( stuff的过去式和过去分词 )；把…装进；把…装满；（使）吃撑

参考例句：

• stuffed animals in glass cases 玻璃柜里的动物标本
• I was stuffed to the gills with chocolate cake. 我嘴里塞满了巧克力蛋糕。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 den   

n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室

参考例句：

• There is a big fox den on the back hill.后山有一个很大的狐狸窝。
• The only way to catch tiger cubs is to go into tiger's den.不入虎穴焉得虎子。

7 release   

vt.发布，发表，发行；释放，放开

参考例句：

• After my examination I had a feeling of release.考完试后我有如释重负之感。
• This medicine will give you release from pain.这药吃后会解除你的疼痛。

8 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

9 reproduce   

v.生育，繁殖，复制，重做

参考例句：

• The machine can reproduce a key in two minutes.这机器能在两分钟内复制一把钥匙。
• The picture will reproduce well.这照片会印得很清楚。

10 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

11 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。