Whitehorse family's rescued puppy turns out to be a fox

A Whitehorse family got a little wild surprise this week when it turned out the abandoned puppy they rescued wasn't a puppy at all.

The baby animalwas in poor shape when it was discovered abandoned near Marsh Lake over the Easter weekend.

"I just defaulted to thinking it was a dog," saidRalphShopland. The family turned to Facebookto try and find a wet nurse.

"We needed to get it attended to because we don't have that capability," he said. "I'm not a mommy."

For a few days the little one had a surrogate but thenthey found out the little pupwasn't a pup at all.

"Originally, they thought it was a dog, but it wasn't a dog," says Yukon conservation officer DaveBakica. "Then they thought it might be an otter or a marten or a wolverine, possibly."

Officials at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve saythey're now pretty sure it's a fox. Young fox have white tips on their tail,just like this onedoes.But they're waiting until itgrows a bit more to say for sure that's what itis.

For now, it's being bottle-fedevery three hours.

"It seems like he is well hydrated and active," saysMariaHallockof the Yukon Wildlife Preserve. "He doesn't cry between meals so that means he isn't hungry. He's getting enough milk. I only had him for a day and a half and he gained sixgramssince yesterday."

Conservation officers sayin this case the mother fox was likely hit by a car and the little one was truly abandoned.

Generally, they urge people not to touch wild animals.

"If you think you've found orphaned wildlife, in most cases mother is very close by and just waiting for you to leave," says Bakica.

"We try to tell people, please do not pick up any orphaned wildlife."

The little fox will now likely live in captivity since he's now imprinted by humans. If there's not room at the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, officials says they'll find him a home at another site.

• 1 month later, Whitehorse mystery puppy is definitely a fox