Orphaned fox cub Puggle '˜inseparable' from toy bunny rabbit

Puggles the fox cub with his toy bunny. Picture: SWNS

Puggle was found abandoned at just two weeks old in a north London back garden and handed over to the National Fox Welfare Society (NFWS).

The orphaned youngster has been nursed back to health alongside the plush toy, which he is rarely seen without.

The fox society nurses fox cubs back to health if they are injured or abandoned, and Puggle was the first of the breeding season to come to them.

Puggle was found abandoned when he was just two weeks old. Picture: SWNS

By the summer, Puggle will be big and strong enough to venture back into the wild on his own.

The society will ‘soft release’ him with a group of other orphaned foxes.

A spokesperson said: “Through soft release the cubs will, as is the case for natural wild fox cubs eventually disperse in search of a territory and a mate of their own.

“So everything is done to try to make the release program as natural as possible and to mirror what would be happening in the wild in the same period.”

Puggle takes his beloved bunny with him absolutely everywhere, his carer has said.

Martin Hemmington, director of the NFWS, said his washing machine has been in ‘overdrive’ since he gave the fox cub a cuddly toy.

The fox enthusiast, who has run the volunteer society for almost 30 years said that when an orphaned fox comes in on its own, he will give it a soft toy for company.

He said: “When foxes come in a group, they’ve got each other for company but when they’re on their own it’s nice to give them something to cuddle up to.

“I give them a teddy, a hot water bottle and a clock, which is like a heart beat of their mum.

“But Puggle loves his teddy more than usual.

“One minute he’ll cuddle up to it then he’ll go to the toilet on it and the next minute he’s throwing it around and playing with it, our washing machine has been in overdrive.”

A number of young fox cubs have been brought to animal shelters in the past two weeks, with two cubs named Nevada and Utah found in the Glasgow area.

The Scottish SPCA has urged the public to be on the lookout for any young foxes that appear to be ill, injured or orphaned as it is the season for mothers to forage for food or move cubs between dens.