For one Nashville songwriter, answering a call for help can mean getting out of bed in the middle of the night and heading into the woods.
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answering → answer → woods
At 78, Jerry Vandiver has spent the past seven years volunteering to rescue red foxes suffering from mange around Nashville, Tennessee.
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Vandiver → spend → Nashville
In a report, The Tennessean detailed how the singer-songwriter traps sick foxes, transports them to Walden’s Puddle Wildlife Center of Greater Nashville and later helps return them to the wild.
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songwriter → detail → wild
Vandiver logged 234 volunteer hours in August alone, while Walden’s Puddle had already rehabilitated more than 60 red foxes by early September, surpassing the 44 it treated throughout all of 2025.
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it → log → 2025
A growing rescue effort for Nashville’s foxes
Vandiver’s work begins when residents spot foxes showing signs of mange.
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residents → grow → mange
People send him photographs or contact him through Facebook, often asking for help when they see an animal with large patches of missing fur, sores or other signs of the disease.
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they → send → disease
Mange is caused by microscopic skin mites.
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Mange → cause → mites
In foxes, the condition can lead to intense irritation, hair loss, scabbing and open wounds.
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condition → lead → irritation
Without treatment, weakened animals can develop secondary infections and eventually die.
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animals → weaken → infections
The disease is also contagious, making affected foxes a concern for local wildlife populations.
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foxes → make → populations
For Vandiver, however, the presence of mange does not mean an animal is beyond saving.
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animal → mean → saving
He has developed a routine for locating and trapping the foxes before transporting them to Walden’s Puddle for professional care.
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He → develop → care
“I’m not the hero, I’m just the ambulance driver,” Vandiver told The Tennessean, explaining that mange is treatable if the animals can be caught and taken for care.
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animals → ’m → care
He monitors foxes around Nashville
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He → monitor → Nashville
The rescue work can take considerably more than simply setting a trap.
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work → take → trap
Vandiver uses trail cameras to monitor foxes and understand their movements.
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Vandiver → use → movements
Once he identifies an animal that appears to have mange, he works out where to place a trap and what bait to use.
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he → identify → bait
The process can take days or even weeks, depending on the animal.
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process → take → animal
When a fox finally enters a trap, Vandiver does not necessarily wait until morning to deal with it.
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Vandiver → enter → it
He has said that frightened foxes can injure themselves by repeatedly throwing themselves against the wire enclosure.
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foxes → say → enclosure
Instead, he covers the trap with a sheet to help calm the animal, then transports it to Walden’s Puddle.
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he → cover → Puddle
There, the fox is transferred into a crate with food, water and bedding while the rescue centre’s medical staff prepares to treat it.
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staff → transfer → it
According to Walden’s Puddle animal care manager Joanna Johnson, Vandiver has sent messages about newly trapped foxes at 2 a.m., reflecting how frequently the work extends into the night.
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work → accord → night
234 volunteer hours in one month
The scale of Vandiver’s commitment has grown alongside the number of sick foxes he encounters.
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he → grow → foxes
In August 2026 alone, he recorded 234 volunteer hours.
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he → record → hours
By early September, he and other volunteers had already captured more than 60 foxes during the year.
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he → capture → year
That compares with 44 red foxes rehabilitated by Walden’s Puddle during the entire 2025 calendar year.
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That → compare → year
The increase has made 2026 a particularly busy year for the rescue organisation and its volunteers.
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2026 → make → organisation
Vandiver has also become increasingly recognisable among Nashville residents.
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Vandiver → become → residents
His social-media presence has expanded as he shares photographs and videos documenting foxes before and after treatment.
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he → expand → treatment
Good News Network reported that his Facebook following grew from about 325 people to around 5,000 as his rescue work attracted wider attention.
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work → report → attention
From country songwriting to wildlife rescue
Vandiver's life in Nashville did not begin with wildlife rehabilitation.
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life → begin → rehabilitation
He is a longtime singer-songwriter whose work has been recorded by country artists including Tim McGraw, Phil Vassar and Barbara Mandrell.
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work → record → McGraw
He has also maintained a career as a performer, author and educator.
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He → maintain → performer
His wildlife work developed alongside that career.
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work → develop → career
For about seven years, he has volunteered with Walden’s Puddle, eventually becoming a regular responder for residents who encounter sick foxes.
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who → volunteer → foxes
His experience has also given him a detailed understanding of the animals.
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experience → give → animals
Foxes generally live in family groups and require sizeable territories.
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Foxes → live → territories
As development reduces available habitat, foxes can increasingly come into contact with one another or move through areas occupied by other groups, circumstances that can facilitate the spread of contagious diseases such as mange.
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that → reduce → mange
Good News Network, citing the rescue organisation, also noted concerns about rat poison, which can weaken animals and contribute to their vulnerability.
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which → cite → vulnerability
…and 10 more, not listed.
The Aporia
