It was an unusual site at the McGill Metro station Friday night — a wild fox roaming the tracks was captured by police.
“[It is] extremely rare to have wild animals in the Metro,” STM spokesperson Amélie Régis told Global News.
According to Régis, the STM received a call about the fox entering the station Thursday night.
She says the animal evaded security cameras, so they don’t know how it got in.
STM employees spotted the fox underneath the platform and call police.
Régis said service on the green line was interrupted for nine minutes while police rescued the fox.
After removing the wild animal from the Metro station, it was transported to Île Sainte-Hélène.
“A more fitting habitat,” said Régis.
It is unknown where the fox came from.
Photos of the animal circulated on social media, leading people to wonder if the rumour was a hoax, or something carefully crafted by a person with a talent in Photoshop.
This is not the first time a wild animal has been trapped inside the Metro.
The STM doesn’t have exact numbers on how many wild animals have entered the Metro network, but Régis recalls a case of a parakeet inside a station last January.
An employee from Perroquet Secours, an organization that focuses on reuniting lost or stolen birds with their legitimate owners, came to collect the parakeet.
During the summer months, Régis said it isn’t unusual for urban birds, such as sparrows and pigeons, to enter the Metro stations.
In these situations, STM employees will call experts, such as exterminators or wildlife agents, to help out.