A fox floating down the Thames on a plank of wood was rescued before she found herself all at sea.
The adrift vixen appeared to have leapt onto the makeshift raft escaping from an attacker, according to the RSPCA.
An officer from the animal charity managed to catch up with the fox and bring her to shore, with the help of the London Fire Brigade.
The RSPCA’s Mark Hanley, who came to her aid on Tuesday [Oct 24], said: “Someone on a houseboat called us after spotting the fox stranded on a plank of wood used by workmen to work on the boats.
“When I arrived the tide was in and I wasn’t sure how deep the water was.
“But once the tide went out it was shallow enough for me to go down a ladder and catch her with my grasper.
“It looked like she had an injury to her back end – we think something nipped at her and she jumped into the water to escape – and this was the first thing she found to stop herself from drowning.”
He added: “She wouldn’t have survived much longer down there, she was very cold.
“I took her to the Wildlife Aid Foundation and vets there confirmed she had hypothermia.”
Pictures show the recovering red fox sleeping in a box beneath a heated lamp.
