SHELBY TOWNSHIP, Mich. – Employees with Consumers energy working on a pipeline in Shelby Township quickly took action when they found new friends that needed help.
CE had to replace a gas pipeline buried under the snow and ice that dated back to the 1940s.
It was project manager Rich Pulley’s job to make sure everything went correctly when his crew attracted an audience.
“The foxes were very curious,” Pulley said. “They would come out and watch the workers construct the pipeline.”
Over time, workers realized two of the three foxes were losing their coats. They had mange and likely would starve to death.
Instead of turning back to the pipeline, Consumers Energy started a bold healthcare plan for the foxes.
“It is more than building a pipeline," Pulley said. "It is about community and it is about nature.”
Workers with CE and the DNR put medication on the site for the foxes inside food and made sure only the foxes would get the medication.
“It just shows they went the extra mile and care about our environment,” said Debra Dodd, with CE.
“It is a joy to see that," said resident Mike Stickney. "You don’t get to very often as a city person, you know.”
CE will have continue to distribute medications for the same foxes in the spring and -- since mange is highly contagious in foxes -- they know what to do when they encounter foxes with the same issues.