Mallory Harrigan and her colleagues observed something unexpected while onboard a crab-fishing boat off the coast of Labrador, Canada. There was a very large mushroom-shaped iceberg approximately 4 miles from shore, and it had an unwary passenger trapped atop it.
Harrigan told The Dodo, “We believed it was a baby seal.”
They took a closer look after that.
Turns out, the animal riding the iceberg was not exactly a seafaring species.
It was an Arctic fox — and he was in real trouble.
Rather of abandoning the fox to his destiny, Harrigan and her colleagues decided to attempt to assist him. In their boat, they approached the iceberg and wrangled the terrified castaway to safety.
“Even though he battled it, we were able to get him on board,” Harrigan added. “We felt we were his only hope of survival since the winds had shifted and were pushing all of the ice out to sea.”
While the fox had ample cause to lose hope, it had suddenly been restored.
Harrigan and the other odd fox rescuers hastily made a makeshift bed on board their boat and fed the fatigued animal to help him regain his health and warmth.
After that, they began on a joint trek back to dry land.
When they returned to the harbor, Harrigan and the crew fed the fox a few more morsels before releasing him.
“We put him in an old doghouse,” she explained. “He got up and brushed himself off, and that was the end of it!”
Harrigan and the others may have just gone out of their way to save the fox for a few minutes, but that small act of generosity changed everything for him.
“We’re delighted we were able to save this animal,” Harrigan said, adding that the fox looks to be doing well and periodically reminds his rescuers of the life he rescued. “We still get to visit him now and again!”
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