He's a handful! Pedro the tiny fox cub is nursed back to health after being found in shivering in a bush

By Chris Parsons

Published: 13:11 EST, 22 March 2012 | Updated: 14:49 EST, 22 March 2012


Carers who look after baby animals are used to tiny creatures, but they could not have been expecting a cub as small as this adorable youngster.

Pedro the fox cub is being nursed back to health by experts in Somerset, despite being so small he fits in the palm of a hand.

The tiny creature, found shivering in a bramble bush near Weston-super-Mare, is the smallest ever fox cub treated by staff at the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre.

Helping hand: Pedro is held by a carer at the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, shortly after he was plucked from a bush

Helping hand: Pedro is held by a carer at the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre, shortly after he was plucked from a bush

Ball of fluff: Pedro struggles to open his eyes, but appears to be in good hands at the centre in Somerset

Ball of fluff: Pedro struggles to open his eyes, but appears to be in good hands at the centre in Somerset

Nursed back to health: Pedro is held by Laurie John after being abandoned by his mother

Nursed back to health: Pedro is held by Laurie John after being abandoned by his mother

Manager Sara Cowen battled through the thorns and rushed Pedro back to an incubator, where he is now being hand-reared and will eventually be released back into the wild.

Pedro had been just hours from death after being left behind by his mother when she was forced to abandon her fox hole in a hurry.

A horrified dog walker heard Pedro's plaintive baby cries coming from a bush.

Sara said: 'He would almost certainly have died if we hadn’t found him so soon.'

Early days: Pedro is the smallest fox cub ever rescued by the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre in Somerset

Early days: Pedro is the smallest fox cub ever rescued by the Secret World Wildlife Rescue Centre in Somerset

Showing some bottle: The tiny cub takes a drink of milk after beuing rescued from a bramble bush near Weston-super-Mare

Showing some bottle: The tiny cub takes a drink of milk after beuing rescued from a bramble bush near Weston-super-Mare

It is thought little Pedro was abandoned by his mother when she was forced to leave her fox hole in a hurry

It is thought little Pedro was abandoned by his mother when she was forced to leave her fox hole in a hurry