Sick And Scared ‘Fox’ Chased Into A Corner Wasn’t What He Seemed

"Poor thing ... so sick and miserable. It's not easy to be a wild animal."

This was the reaction coming from a wildlife rehabilitation center in Duluth, Minnesota, earlier this month about an extremely thin animal found wandering around in the suburbs.

Only a few months old, the animal, initially thought to be a fox, had been chased by a dog into an isolated window well. The family who found him worried about his well-being - and called for help.

By the time rescuers from the rehab center, Wildwoods, arrived on the scene, the young animal had managed to escape -and had disappeared.

The team at Wildwoods eventually identified the "fox" as a coyote pup, so they enlisted a wildlife specialist to help retrieve him.

"He was so lethargic," Fazard Farr, executive director at Wildwoods, who was present during the capture, told The Dodo. "He was unable to fight. When I went to grab him, he didn't even bite."

The young coyote could barely walk and had lost 70 percent of his fur to mange, an illness caused by a parasitic mite that burrows into the skin, causing uncomfortable symptoms such as intense itching and hair loss.

"Affected animals are too miserable to hunt and often die of starvation or, in the winter, exposure due to fur loss." Wildwoods wrote on Facebook.

In Wildwoods' care, the coyote is expected to bounce back from his mange and put on weight before he's eventually released back into the wild.

"Though the mangy coyote pup has a long road of recovery in front of him, he is perking up with treatment," Wildwoods wrote in a recent update.

Want to help Wildwoods continue doing good work for animals in need? See how you can contribute here.

Watch this video about a baby fox who was rescued from a drain: