When Fr. John Ubel, rector of the Cathedral of Saint Paul, discovered the young gray fox, it sounded seriously distressed. Fr. Ubel discovered the abandoned kit at the bottom of a steep window well at the back of the Cathedral. Due to it being a weekend, it took three days to get help; all the while, Fr. Ubel lowered water, fruit, and other food items he read that fox kits might eat. On Sunday evening, volunteers from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota arrived at the Cathedral and rescued the animal. No pulse registered at the time, and it was “at death’s door,” according to one of the volunteers.
Before staff from the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center released the fox, they invited National Geographic photographer, Joel Sartore, to take photos for his project, Photo Ark. Sartore devotes time to documenting the world’s species before they disappear. Sartore has given the Cathedral Heritage Foundation exclusive rights to sell “Cathedral Fox” gift items, plus a limited number of prints of Sartore’s famous photo of the “Cathedral Fox,” with all proceeds benefitting the Cathedral’s restoration. The prints will include a personal message and signature from Sartore. Read the full story by Molly Guthrey in the Pioneer Press.
