The thing about surprises is that you either love them or you absolutely loathe them. For some people, a good surprise is the best thing in the world! For others, however, they’re essentially guaranteed to induce a panic attack.

An English man named Craig Mcgettrick knew a thing or two about surprises. He was recently cleaning a local garden with a friend when he stumbled upon something he didn’t expect. When they took a closer look and realized these things weren’t what they seemed…

Craig Mcgettrick of Liverpool, England, was recently doing a good deed—picking up trash from a park near his home—along with his friend Beccie. The pair expected to come across some weird odds and ends, of course, but an old, dirty mattress was certainly not one of them!

Craig and Beccie moved in for a closer look. Since they had no idea where the mattress came from—or who had used it—they proceeded with caution. Why would anyone discard their mattress in such a bizarre place?

Craig and Beccie carefully lifted the mattress off of the ground, only to find something lying underneath it. And that something was moving. The pair was in complete disbelief at what they’d found…

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There, beneath the old mattress, was a litter of five puppies! Craig and Beccie grew concerned when they realized the mother was nowhere to be found. They decided they were the only ones who could help the abandoned baby animals.

First, Craig and Beccie decided to do something smart: they photographed the puppies so they could post their pictures on Facebook, just in case someone knew what had happened to them. Then, they got to work on bringing them to safety.

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Craig and Beccie rounded up the pups and carefully placed them into a single plastic box. Once they were all secured, the pair rushed the puppies to nearby Freshfields Animal Rescue in case they needed treatment.

In the meantime, Craig posted pictures of the dogs online, and the puppies’ photographs began to spread around the Internet. Soon, a number of people were inquiring about them—and a few eagle-eyed web users had some interesting questions…

A number of people realized that these weren’t puppies at all—but possibly baby foxes! Craig and Beccie reached out to Martin Hemmington, the founder of the National Fox Welfare Society, to see if he could help confirm.

“Beccie had sent a few photos asking if the babies in the photos were indeed fox cubs,” Martin later wrote in a Facebook post. So, were they actually baby foxes who had simply been abandoned by their mother?

Martin had the answer: “We confirmed they certainly were. Beccie advised us that they had been taken to a rescue center in Liverpool mistakenly as puppies, not fox cubs.” So they were foxes! Now the big question was: what happened to them? And what should be done?

Paul McDonald, a staff member at Freshfields Animal Rescue, theorized that the fox family had been using the mattress as a makeshift den. In all likelihood, the mother had simply left her kits while she looked for food.

“Vixens leave their cubs all the time whilst they are in the den,” Paul explained. “As they get older, they’ll begin to explore their surroundings more and more, and become less dependent on mum.”

These foxes clearly weren’t old enough to be totally abandoned by their mother just yet, however. Wanting to provide the foxes with the care they desperately needed, Martin asked Paul to see if he could help.

Paul dispatched an unnamed volunteer (pictured) to transport the little foxes. Once they arrived in his care, Paul knew exactly what to do: bring them back to the park. But why?

Paul realized he needed to reunite the babies with their mother—and he had a plan to get her back. “I didn’t give the cubs any milk in order for them to be hungry so they’d cry out and call for their mum, which they did,” he recalled.

“I put them around the same place they were found, as I knew the mum would be looking for them,” Paul added. “She’d be checking the place she last had them.” But were the kits gone from their den for too long?

It was worth a shot. Paul placed the cubs in a cardboard box alongside a warm water bottle to keep them cozy. Then, he returned the kits to their spot in the park and proceeded to wait for the mother to show up. Sure enough, within an hour, a fox approached the box…

“I believe once she’d picked the first one up and knew the others were safe in the box, she waited until it got dark to get the rest as she must not have felt safe moving the cubs in daylight,” Paul said. Phew!

The mother returned a while after to take another cub and then proceeded to continue this pattern until she’d removed all five from the box. After that, there was nothing for Paul to do but admire the empty box—the reunion was a success!

“All through this, I was letting Beccie and Craig know, and everyone was so pleased that the cubs were back where they belonged … with mum!” Though their beginnings were rough, hopefully, this meant the fox kits would have a bright future as a family!

It’s human nature to want to help an animal in need. There’s nothing worse than inaction in these scenarios. That’s exactly why when a Missouri man recently saw an animal that had been struck by a car on Christmas Eve his instinct was to lend a helping hand.

At a mall on Christmas Eve, you can expect to find flurries of people running around in a tizzy, finishing up their last-minute shopping. The furthest thing from any of their minds is having to save a life in an emergency situation.

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When Missouri man Kevin Harvey was recently pulling out of his local mall parking lot on Christmas Eve, though, he spotted a group of people gathered around the bumper of a vehicle. His curiosity piqued, he angled his neck to get a closer look… and that’s when he noticed something strange.

Inside of the grill of the car was what appeared to be an animal, though he couldn’t tell exactly what type it was. Feeling generous—it was the holiday season, after all!—he decided to lend a helping hand. So, Kevin parked his car and prepared to offer whatever assistance he could.

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At first, Kevin thought that the animal was a strange-looking dog. As he got closer, however, he quickly realized that she was actually a coyote. The poor animal was wedged right inside of the grill of the car, and it was clear that Kevin would have to act fast to save her life.

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Luckily, Kevin managed to free the suffering animal from the grill. Next, he cleaned the blood from her fur, which was still pouring out of her open wounds. That’s when he decided to bring the coyote to a local animal hospital to get further assistance.

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Kevin wrapped the poor coyote in his jacket and first brought her to a veterinarian. Unfortunately, because she was a wild animal, they advised him to instead take her to the local Wildlife Rescue Center, which could better assist such an animal. Not wanting to waste any precious time, Kevin drove over as quickly as possible.

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The staff at the Wildlife Rescue Center didn’t hesitate to leap into action. They gave the ailing coyote a full examination; they were able to discern that, even though she’d been struck by a vehicle, she hadn’t sustained any serious injuries.

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In fact, aside from the minor cuts and bruises that she sustained when she was struck by the moving vehicle, the female coyote’s worst injuries were only a series of deep lacerations on the pads of her paws. Phew!

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The sweet animal—who was later dubbed “Miracle Coyote”—spent a total of 31 days at the Wildlife Rescue Center recovering from her various injuries. Then, after a month of recuperation, she received some amazing news!

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Not only had Miracle Coyote’s wounds healed, but she was finally ready to be released back into the wild. This was a huge step, especially considering that she’d been struck and was facing death just a few short weeks prior.

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The staff at the Wildlife Rescue Center were more than elated by this wonderful news. Not only was Miracle Coyote going to be released back into the wild, but they were honored to be the ones to help her do it!

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The staff packed Miracle Coyote into a transportation crate and placed her in the rear of their company vehicle. Their next move was to bring her to the wooded area near where she’d originally been struck by the vehicle so she could return to her old life as quickly as possible.

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While the volunteers from the Wildlife Rescue Center knew they would greatly miss Miracle Coyote, whom they’d nursed back to health and with whom they’d formed a strong bond, they knew that this was what was best for her in the long run.

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They carefully drove to the side of the road where the coyote was first found and placed the crate at the base of the wooded area. Her excited reaction once they opened her crate and she realized she could roam free was all the thanks anyone could ask for

Rescuing an animal is one thing, but what about knowing when to let go? Trigger’s former owner impulsively bought the beautiful white wolf-dog puppy for $300 after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper. It was a case of love at first sight!

He was described as “super-socialized” but also “extremely high content,” which meant that he was genetically more wolf than dog…something which the buyer didn’t quite understand at the time.

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All puppies are rambunctious, but by the time he was five months old, Trigger’s owner was reaching the end of her rope with him. They shared a very strong bond, but Trigger had chewed away a piece of her wall and was causing conflicts with her other dog.

After doing extensive research on wolf-dogs, she realized that Trigger would likely never be happy or healthy living in a fully domestic setting with her. She made the difficult decision to give him up to the W.O.L.F. Sanctuary in Colorado.

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Ultimately, Trigger was better off in his new home. However, the transition from living at home with his human family to going to live at the sanctuary wasn’t very easy for him at first…

Sanctuary volunteers tried to pair Trigger with two different older wolf-dogs to socialize him into life on the grounds, but perhaps due to his young, puppy energy, neither ever truly warmed up to the young pup.

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Workers weren’t quite sure what to do with him, but they knew he needed a friend and playmate to truly settle into his new home. Anxious to acclimate Trigger to his new home, workers started to think of new ideas.

Then Trigger met Spartacus, another young wolf-dog pup who had come from a tumultuous living situation and was feeling isolated at the sanctuary. Trigger and Spartacus immediately clicked!

They began spending all their time together, playing and wrestling, and they would sometimes even sleep in the same enclosure! They were positive influences on each other in other ways too: Spartacus is no longer an obsessive howler, and Trigger has warmed up to his caretakers!

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Today, the two are still the best of friends. Trigger and Spartacus continue to share a play space and have fun together at the sanctuary. It’s definitely fair to say that they are living their lives to the fullest!

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