The tank was about 20 feet deep, and it appears the baby, or kit, fox must have fallen inside, said Officer Jason Pietsch.
He and partner Mark Scott lowered a ladder in order to get to the bottom and approached the fox strategically with nets.
"You want to be as quick as possible," Pietsch said. "In a situation like that, you don't know what you're dealing with. The animal could be injured and defensive, it's freaked out, and two monsters with nets are chasing it."
In this video, courtesy of the Petaluma Animal Shelter, the officers can be seen netting the fox. After it was covered in a towel and secured in a crate, it calmed down, Pietsch said.
He estimated the young fox was under a year old.
The officers then called Sonoma County Wildlife Rescue, and at the agency's advice, plan to release the fox close to the animal shelter, also on Hopper Street.
"It wasn't injured, and we know there's a den near the shelter," Pietsch said. He added, "Getting the kit out of there safely is the kind of thing that makes us glad to do our job."
(Argus Courier - June 25, 2013)
