A Couple Walking In Portland Thought They Spotted A Puppy, But It Was A Mystifying White Fox
Wildlife experts are scratching their heads after a mysterious creature that appeared to be a white fox was spotted in Portland, Oregon.
Biologists from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) confirmed the animal was a fox, but they have been unable to identify the exact species.
A couple in Portland had been taking a morning stroll across Sellwood Bridge on October 9 when they saw a small animal with pure white fur prancing about on the west side of the railway bridge. It was pouncing on a plastic bag, drifting through the wind.
“It definitely looked wild, and it looked like a puppy,” said Richard Melling, a 64-year-old Portland resident. “It was like a very, very happy puppy.”
However, he quickly realized the creature was not a dog. Melling and his wife stopped about 40 feet away so he could capture it on video.
Experts from the ODFW analyzed the footage and determined that it was a fox, but it was unclear what kind of fox it was.
“The animal spotted in Portland…does look like some kind of fox. White morphs are more common in red foxes than gray foxes, but the ears and snout are atypical for a red fox,” said Beth Quillian, the West Region public information officer for the ODFW.
“This animal looks closer to an Arctic fox than any fox native to our area. It is potentially some kind of hybrid animal that escaped from captivity, though we can’t rule out the possibility that it could be a wild leucistic gray fox either.”
Menno Schaefer – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only, not the actual fox
If the animal is indeed an Arctic fox, it is much farther south than it should be. Arctic foxes are not native to Oregon.
According to the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), in North America, they are only found in Canada and Alaska.
Arctic foxes have a long, white coat in the winter. It sheds to a shorter, gray, and bluish-brown coat in the summer. They are usually about three feet long and weigh around 12 pounds.
They live in tundra habitats, coastal areas, and ice floes. This makes the possible presence of an Arctic fox on a bridge in Portland even more baffling.
On October 12, the fox was brought to the Bird Alliance of Oregon’s Wildlife Care Center. It was a female that weighed six and a half pounds.
The staff said that the fox did not seem to be scared of people, which led them to believe she had escaped from captivity or was abandoned by her owners.
“After a few days of being on the loose, the female fox was desperate enough and approached a person for help, as it’s likely that humans have provided her food her whole life,” Ashley Lema, the manager of the Wildlife Care Center, said.
“Not only is she in the wrong habitat, but she just doesn’t have the skills necessary, like hunting, to survive in the wild.”
The fox was thin and dehydrated but was in overall good health. She will stay under the care of the Wildlife Care Center while the ODFW figures out the next steps.
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