“Cute story but that is 100% a fursuit.”
Strong Resemblance
Employees at a wildlife center in Richmond have taken to wearing a supersized fox mask to help feed a baby fox — and folks online are pointing out that it looks a lot like, well, a fursuit.
The story started off extremely wholesome: employees began wearing the fursuit-looking full-head mask, as a Richmond Wildlife Center Facebook post explains, in an attempt to head off any imprinting for the baby.
“It’s important to make sure that the orphans that are raised in captivity do not become imprinted upon or habituated to humans,” the post reads. “To prevent that, we minimize human sounds, create visual barriers, reduce handling, reduce multiple transfers amongst different facilities, and wear masks for the species.”
Caretakers at a Virginia wildlife center are doing their best to comfort an orphaned fox pup — even wearing a red fox mask at feeding time.
The newborn fox was found in a Richmond alley by a man walking his dog. Caretakers hope to be able to release the fox back into the wild. pic.twitter.com/5dBfVaRUWA
— ABC News (@ABC) March 13, 2024
While it’s indeed a sweet effort, the fact remains that lots of people have noticed that the fox mask in question bears an extremely strong resemblance to those worn by people whose “fursonas,” or identification with animals — which isn’t necessarily sexual — are foxes.
“Cute story,” one user on X-formerly-Twitter posted, “but that is 100% a fursuit lol.”
Dress for Work
As others pointed out, news reports about the curious costuming note that the mask was sourced by the Richmond Wildlife Center’s executive director — though some quipped that she may also use it “for something else.”
Naturally, the furry community online has also taken to the reporting, and are jokingly celebrating the executive director as one of their own.
“Who decided to wear their fursuit head to work,” another user questioned. “We need the full story here!”
Some in the furry fandom community even began offering the wildlife center tips on how to up their game.
“Maybe a better fox mask would be in order,” one furry said in response to a news clip posted on X. “There are plenty of people who make them for a living that could get super realistic with them.”
While the fox head mask in question does indeed resemble those worn by furries, the similarities don’t end there. It also, as one user pointed out, looks a lot like the characters from Wes Anderson’s “Fantastic Mr. Fox.”
Intentional or not, this clip and the fox-headed humans behind it have captured some internet attention — which will hopefully lead to more funds raised for the wildlife center in question.
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