07/09/2026
BEFORE AND AFTER: Let me explain it in a way I think most of us can relate to.
At some point in our lives, most of us have been lied to or deceived by someone we loved and trusted. Maybe it was a friend who wasn't who they claimed to be. Maybe it was a spouse who cheated. Maybe it was a family member who stole from you. Whatever it was, you believed you were receiving love, honesty, loyalty, or safety - but what you were actually being given was something deeply toxic.
That kind of betrayal changes you.
It slowly drains your confidence. It makes you question yourself. It leaves you weaker than you once were. Sometimes, while you're trying to survive that hurt, other problems begin to appear because you're no longer as strong as you were before.
This fox's story isn't so different.
Day after day, she hunted mice, doing exactly what nature designed her to do. Every meal looked like nourishment. Every meal looked safe. But what she couldn't possibly know was she was being deceived. Those mice had already been poisoned by people trying to solve a rodent problem.
To her, the danger was invisible.
With every poisoned mouse she ate, the toxin slowly built up inside her body. She became weaker. Her vision became impaired. Her body struggled to clot blood. Her immune system faltered, leaving her vulnerable to other illnesses, including severe mange. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't understand why. So she kept returning to the same places to feed, unknowingly consuming more poison.
She wasn't making bad choices.
She was making the best choices she could with the information she had.
It was only when someone recognized what was happening that she was rescued, removed from the source of the poison, and given a chance to heal.
But healing from poison isn't immediate.
She's been with us for a month, and she'll likely need six to eight weeks of treatment before her body can fully recover. Just like emotional wounds caused by deception, physical poison doesn't disappear overnight. Recovery takes time, patience, and a safe place to heal.
Before using rodent poison, I hope you'll think about this fox.
If you've ever trusted someone who gave you lies instead of truth... if you've ever reached for something you believed would nourish your life only to discover it was toxic... then you already understand what this fox experienced.
The difference is that we can learn to recognize unhealthy people and choose to walk away.
Wildlife doesn't have that luxury.
They simply keep eating what nature tells them is food. They have to trust that it’s safe.
We get to decide whether our choices become someone else's poison—or someone else's chance to live.
May we all decide not to be the poison in the lives of people or wildlife around us.
I am happy to report that she is recovering beautifully and slowly returning to her former glory. She is a strong girl. ❤️
