London’s Caring Community: Heartwarming Efforts to Rescue Adorable Fox Cubs Who Keep Getting Their Heads Stuck in Discarded Car Wheels

Four fox cubs got their heads stuck in old car wheels in just one month, animal charities warned.

A spate of similar incidents has seen four separate fox cubs get wedged in wheels in four weeks across London.

RSPCA Animal Rescue Officer (ARO) Nick Jonas and his colleagues have been busy rescuing fox cubs’ heads from wheels around the capital.

Officers have been called out to two of the most recent incidents that happened within a week of each other at a car repair garage in Bethnal Green, east London, on May 10 and in a neighbouring Newham garden five days earlier.

In a tricky rescue on May 9, Mr Jonas’s colleague Lee Rickets worked with the London Fire Brigade in Haringey, north London, to free a third cub.

On May 9, this fox cub was spotted trapped inside a car wheel in Haringey, north London

Another cub was rescued from a car wheel in Orpington on April 22. Four separate incidents of fox cubs getting trapped in car wheels have been reported in the capital in recent weeks

A fourth rescue of a fox cub in a similar pickle was carried out by Rodney Kenny in Orpington, south east London, on April 22.

RSPCA officers believe the animals were searching for food when they got their heads stuckư

Mr Jonas said: ‘Young foxes are incredibly curious and we quite often get called out to deal with ones that have got themselves in a pickle.

‘But in my experience, it’s quite unusual to get four “head stuck in wheel” incidents in just one month.

‘They put their heads through the middle hole of a wheel, maybe searching for food, but then find to their dismay that their ears stop them from reversing out.

‘In situations like this, there’s no time to spare. They may have been trapped for several days without food or water, so need to be freed as soon as possible.

RSPCA officers believe the animals were searching for food when they got their heads stuck

‘There’s a bit of a knack to freeing fox cubs when they get their heads caught, as it’s their ears that are the problem.

‘With both the recent incidents I attended, I found that gently easing the little foxes’ ears one-by-one back through the hole made it easy to free the animals.’

Many animals that become trapped or tangled can be seriously injured, so the RSPCA said it is best they are examined by experts to see if they need treatment.

Wild animals can scratch, kick and bite when frightened, particularly if they are injured so the public risk being hurt without proper help, the charity warned.

Mr Jonas added: ‘Thankfully, both appeared to be in good condition, despite their ordeal so I took them to the South Essex Wildlife Hospital where they will be rehabilitated until they are ready to be released back into the wild.

‘And I understand that the other two fox cubs my colleagues rescued from similar predicaments are happily also unscathed by their ordeal.

‘We’re asking the public to be extra vigilant if they keep wheels on their premises. Please store these items carefully and check them regularly, just in case another fox cub traps itself.’