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Here’s a story you don’t see every day: a man in the U.K. brought a fox into a wildlife aid nonprofit–with its head stuck in a car wheel. The staff called the sight, “The most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen.”

From time to time, dogs–and even some cats–can get their heads stuck in things. There must be some angle at which they can slide forward into a hole, but can’t get their skull back out. Because spare tires and rims often get stacked up outdoors, they pose a common risk for critters. In the past, I’ve even covered firefighters rescuing a dog trapped in a rim.

While pets getting stuck in tires is a common news story, wild animals are a rare one. They tend to avoid human habitations, and thus often avoid our junk. But the Wildlife Aid Foundation, one of the U.K.’s largest animal rescue organizations, has seen it all.

Spare car rim on a grassy field.
Spare rim | yurii oliinyk via iStockPhoto

One day, a man named Goff came in with a spare wheel in the back seat of his car. Inside the rim, a tiny fox pup was trapped. When volunteers approached the animal, it snarled and snapped at them. They concluded it was “quite bitey” and that they’d have to tranquilize it before freeing it.

Luckily, they were able to scoop up the fox’s body with one hand and the tire with the other. In this position, it couldn’t bite them. Once they had it inside the operating room, they used a mask to administer gas and tranquilize the fox. Then they got to work.

The Wildlife Aid organization encounters so many deer stuck in railings that it has a “tried and true method” for freeing them. They first attempted to encase the fox pup’s head in plastic to create a smooth surface and slip it backward through the rim. When they found the plastic was too thick, they tried again with a sheet of paper wrapped around its head. And this time, it worked!

Once they got the fox pup freed, they were able to administer medical aid for some swelling caused by being trapped. Then they let the poor little guy rest in a kennel for the night before re-releasing him in the wild.

Next, read bout the mountain lion’s tragic death that inspired the world’s largest wildlife bridge, or see video of the fox pup’s rescue below:

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Staff Writer

Henry Cesari

Henry Cesari joined MotorBiscuit in 2021 and brings his deep interest in vintage cars, trucks, and motorcycles to the site. Having restored his first classic car at just 16 years old, Henry has wrenched on everything from overland campers to Japanese motorcycles and even pre-war Bugattis. Henry is also an avid attendee at local car shows and genuinely enjoys connecting with fellow auto enthusiasts.

Henry earned a Bachelor’s in Anthropology and English from the University of Vermont. He has since incorporated his love of the written word with his admiration of classic cars. While Henry is interested in vintage cars, he believes the golden age of cars is yet to come. He is confident journalists will play an important role in this revolution by exposing the industry as it is now and envisioning its possible future.