Fox kits rescued from drain pipe in Pennsylvania

A handful of fox kits were rescued from a drain pipe in York County, Pennsylvania. 

The Raven Ridge Wildlife Center said in a Facebook post that it all started on Monday after they got a call from a man who said there were two fox kits stuck in a small drain pipe.

Raven Ridge Wildlife Center said they sent two people out, but the pipe was so deep and narrow that they called York County 911 to get more assistance and equipment. 

The Alliance Fire and Rescue Services chief and his firefighters were called in to help. The wildlife center said they made a plan and began to dig, saw and remove dirt. 

The first kit came free, and while the second one was a bit trickier, it too was pulled out. But shortly after that, three more crying kits appeared in the pipe. Rescuers went back to work, and after almost four hours, all five kits were rescued. 

Raven Ridge says one of the kits unfortunately died. There was a possibility of suffocation down in the pipe, and it wasn't clear how long they'd all been trapped.

The rescue hopes to reunite the kits with their family as soon as possible. They're under observation to make sure they don't have any underlying health issues before they return to their den. 

"We truly rely on our first responders for their expertise and specialized equipment in rescues that we could never accomplish on our own," Raven Ridge wrote on Facebook. "We can't thank the team from Alliance Rescue 77 in Red Lion and the dispatcher from York 911 enough—especially when time is critical for saving lives, whether human or animal. When we collaborate, great things happen, and we are fortunate to have such remarkable first responders."