Anyone up? Do I wake him up?

[Ijustreallywantacat]

Hi mumsnetters.

I have an odd one. So, I was outside in the garden. DP is fast asleep. About an hour ago, I heard an odd noise, like something falling, and a little squeal. Unidentified at the time. Just now, I thought I could hear that something is IN our big umbrella. Its folded down against the wall. I am just too nervy to investigate. I heard for 5 seconds, ran in, poked head round door for another 10 seconds. I have poor hearing so I cant distinguish very easily between sounds.

The only thing is, I'm increasingly thinking it's a cat, but im really not sure. It could be anything. It could even just be the wind! Normally this would be no biggie. But if it's a cat, I would feel cruel leaving it. Its trapped and me and DP wont cross paths until 12am tommorow.

My DP would help me out if I woke him without tok any grumbling, but he has a really solid sleep and I don't want to if this is is silly and it's just the wind. Also, there is the possibility it's a rat. I really have no idea. He is terrified of them. (I am very scared but hes worse!)

Do I:
A) Wake DP up, ask him to help.
B) Leave him to sleep, pull up big girl pants and look in the umbrella.
C) ignore it and deal with it when I wake up.

Assuming OP is in the UK, there's a limited number of living creatures it could be, none of which are likely to be a serious threat to OP's health.

Oh my god. I feel so bad. I should have gone on sooner.
It was a juvenile fox. I tipped the umbrella and it wouldn't move for a good few minutes. It was panting and shaking and just staring at me, then walked quite speedily away, but it has a limp and its tail is a bit squished. It must have been petrified in there. Now it's hurt. Gosh I hope it's okay soon. I might set outdoor camera again and see if he comes back. Though why would he after that?

Yes could easily be a creature trapped. Waiting to find out! It wont harm you but it will be scared (and lucky you saved its life!)

I think its tail must have been caught in one of the prongs, which loosened when I tipped it. Theres quite a lot of fur between one and the fabric

Oh, poor baby! Not much you can do now though. The outdoor camera sounds a good idea, might set your mind at ease if he does come back.

Aww — poor fox. But I wouldn't think the injury was caused by the length of time it was stuck. I see loads of foxes with limps so even if there's some permanent damage it's not a death sentence.

Just fur, not blood? Hopefully he's just had a nasty shock. He'll be more wary of umbrellas in future.

Ah sorry, my post crossed yours. Yes thank goodness you checked! Tail bone broken perhaps if that’s possible? Maybe contact a wildlfe organisation and ask if theres anything they suggest? It may need veterinary treatment to sort out the tail but will probably survive with sqidged tail without it. How long has your umbrella been like that? Could it have been in there for long? Just thinking of possible starvation/dehydration?

Midget, luckily not worried about that. We only put it down at 12pm so it cant have been in there longer than 5 hours.

12am sorry. Midnight!

As in I'm not too worried about starvation.

No blood, thankfully.

Oh the poor little guy!

You are a braver soul than I! I would definitely have woken DP and squealed in terror throughout.

Where did you get your big girl pants, I think I should invest!!

You are so brave! 👏

Maybe putting th camera up would help you see if its ok. You could leave some food out to tempt it back and then look at the footage to see if its ok. Hopefully it is. Do you think the prongs of the umbrella might have pulled the tail out of joint? I dont know much about a fixes anatomy but assume as its connected to the spine it would be incredibly painful, hence not moving, shaking and limping off! Hope its ok but a camera may provide you with the answer.

Aw go you, I would never of been able to check... I'm a massive wimp, I wouldn't be in the garden by myself at 4am.

Well that’s umbrellas added to my list of things to check for wildlife along with shoe spider check. What a rescue!

OP, I am more intrigued about why you are out in the garden all night!!

I agree you were very brave! 👏🏻

God I was so emotionally invested in this thread. 😂

Well done you!
That was brave

Poor baby foxy 🦊

@bottleofvodka where the hell do you live that you're scared to be in your own garden?

@Ijustreallywantacat. Garden umbrella upside down? Very daft (but hopefully you've realised that now). I'd wait to get a cat until dealing with this sort of thing no longer scares you silly...you'd be screwed if you got one that likes to bring you 'gifts'.

Well done, OP. You describe yourself as nervy and scared, but that was heroic! Really - so many people would pretend they hadn’t heard anything, and left the animal to suffer. So glad the fox survived and I hope it recovers. Now you deserve a reward. DH definitely owes you breakfast in bed!

Hopefully if it has injured its' tail it will recover. We have had several foxes visit our garden in the last few years, one of whom had just a couple of inches of tail (we knew she was ok, because the fur had regrown over the end of it ) who we christened Stumpy. She used to visit quite a lot, and seemed totally unconcerned. Just waiting to see if she returns this year!