Fox: Jack and Jill's Story

Jack:

Jill and I came to “mom’s” house in Southwest Iowa at different times. I arrived 3 days before my sister Jill. I crawled out of my home and was playing with my sister under a tree when I saw an apple on the ground. I went to get it and I heard a snap. I turned around to run home to my mom but I could not get out, I was in a trap. I was not hurt but I was very scared, I could not get out. I did not know how to get home. I cried all night but no one could help me.

When morning came I saw a human walking towards me, she turned out to be my surrogate mom. I tried to run but I could only go so far. I was going to bite her but she started making noises and when she touched me she did not hurt me. She took me to a quiet dark place that was almost like home. She slid some food and water over to me. I was so thirsty, but still did not know what she was going to do with me. For two nights I cried for my mom but she never came.

On the third day my sister was put in with me. She got trapped also but she tried to bite “mom”. Well, we stayed in this place for a few more days, then “mom” moved us. We could see trees and hear birds and bugs. We could not leave the enclosure but we had room to run, play and sun ourselves. We stayed there for a long time until one-day “mom” moved the whole enclosure and us.

She came into the enclosure to catch us but I did not want to go back into a cage. I did. When she let us out of the little cage I saw our den but the trees were different, we heard water. “Mom” put in food and water like she always did without touching us. This time I did try to bite her, she was scarring me. She left and we looked around.

The next day my sister and I decided we wanted to find the water we heard so we pulled and chewed at the wire.  We made a hole big enough for me to get through. We escaped. Time to find that water.

Jill:

I remember when Jack my brother left home. He was caught and the humans took him away. I tried to get him out but I couldn’t. Three days later I was caught in the same trap. I was very scared and I did try to bite the human who became “mom”.

She never tried to hurt me so I stopped trying to bite and just stayed away from her. She took me to a new place and I saw my brother. I was so happy to see him. He licked my face and we slept curled around each other. “Mom” moved us out to a larger enclosure one day with a new den. It was not very sturdy.

The night she put us in there I pulled some of the wire and escaped. I spent many nights sneaking back to the enclosure to see my brother Jack.  I was so hungry. I could not get back inside the hole I made, it was blocked. One night there was a trap by a tree like the one I was first caught in. It had food in it. I was smarter this time and stole the food without getting caught for three nights. The fourth night I could not get the food out before the door slammed shut. “Mom” put me back in with Jack and gave me food and water. A couple of months later when we were moved I used the same escape hole and made it bigger for Jack to get through. We both crawled out and ran; boy did we want to run.