Staff at a Virginia wildlife center pretend to be red FOX as they feed orphaned baby kit that was less than 24 hours old when found

Staff at a Virginia wildlife center put on a red fox mask as they fed an orphaned baby kit that was less than 24 hours old when found.

Melissa Stanley, Executive Director of the Richmond Wildlife Center, was captured wearing a fox mask and rubber gloves while feeding the tiny kit that was admitted to the center last month.

When the kit was first found by a man walking his dog in Richmond, she was less than 24 hours old and still had her umbilical stump attached.

In a video shared by the center on Facebook, the baby kit can be seen on top of a large stuffed animal fox as Stanley fed her milk from a syringe.

The approach is to ensure 'the orphans that are raised in captivity do not become imprinted upon or habituated to humans,' the center wrote in the post.

Staff at a Virginia wildlife center put on a red fox mask as they fed an orphaned baby kit that was less than 24 hours old when found

In a video shared by the center on Facebook, the baby kit can be seen on top of a large stuffed animal fox as Stanley fed her milk from a syringe

Melissa Stanley, Executive Director of the Richmond Wildlife Center, was captured wearing a fox mask and rubber gloves while feeding the tiny kit that was admitted to the center last month

Stanley told Associated Press that the man who found the orphaned kit initially though she was a kitten and turned her over to the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. 

Staff at the wildlife center were able to find the den site of the baby kit's mother and three fox kits of the same age as the one in the video. 

Bur the whereabouts of the mother fox remain unknown as the ground's superintendent said foxes had been trapped or removed last month. 

The baby kit could either fall out of a trap or off the back of the trapper's truck, Stanley said. 

'We were able to locate fox kits of the same age and weight as ours and are working to determine what is in the best interest of the foxes,' staff wrote. 

'If they should be transferred to us, or if we should transfer ours to them. Either way, it's in the best interest of this Fox to get it with other foxes her own age.' 

Staff have been taking turns feeding the kit every two to four hours, all wearing the fox mask and gloves. 

As they care for the orphaned kit, they 'minimize human sounds, create visual barriers, reduce handling, reduce multiple transfers amongst different facilities, and wear masks for the species.' 

Stanley told Associated Press that the man who found the orphaned kit initially though she was a kitten and turned her over to the Richmond Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Staff have been taking turns feeding the kit every two to four hours, all wearing the fox mask and gloves

Meanwhile, staff at the wildlife center also found a large stuffed animal meant to mimic the kit's mother and a smaller one that is supposed to look like her pal. 

'The goal is to release animals back into the wild, not only to give them a greater chance of survival, but to recognize their own species and to reproduce to carry on their wildlife population,' Stanley said. 

 The kit will be transferred to the Animal Education and Rescue Organization and eventually released back into the wild, Stanley added.

Along with sharing the video of milk time, the staff launched a fundraising page, which has received more than $400 as of Tuesday evening. 

In addition to syringes and gauze, the center also needs to purchase prey because it won't be long before she transitions to a diet of solids mixed with milk and then whole prey.