It was just last week that Alan Russell and Mallory Harrigan were forced to agree they’d seen something very peculiar indeed. On an ice berg, half a mile from the coast, a small “grey thing” could be seen hunkered down and trying to fight off the cold.
“We thought it was a baby seal,” Harrigan told The Dodo.
But then they looked closer.
It turned out that the animal hitching a ride on the ice wasn’t exactly the sort you’d expect to find at sea.
In fact, it transpired that the “grey thing” was in fact an Arctic fox – one that was in real trouble.
Russell and Harrigan knew they couldn’t simply abandon their new furry friend to its grim fate. They had do act, and quickly.
They pulled their boat up alongside the iceberg, and lifted the fox to safety.
Of course, the animal didn’t understand, and so was naturally afraid.
“We were able to get him aboard even though he fought it,” Harrigan said. “We knew we were his only chance for survival, as the winds had changed and were driving all the ice farther out to sea.”
While the fox, alone and stranded out on the icy seas, had every reason to give up hope, now he was handed an unlikely second chance.
Harrigan and the other fishermen on board were able to make a makeshift bed on their boat, giving food and rest to the exhausted fox so he could begin his recovery.
Once the crew was back in the harbor, they gave the fox some more food and then set him free to go on his way.
“We dropped him off in an old doghouse,” Harrigan said. “He shook himself off and that was it!”
“We’re glad to have saved an animal,” she continued. She went on to say that the fox appears to be doing well, and occasionally returns to the area. “We can still see him from time to time!”
What an incredible story. Alan, Mallory and all the other people who helped in the fox’s rescue deserve praise!
They’re a classic example of what true animal heroes look like, and can be used to inspire others to act, no matter how small their efforts may seem.
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