Bay Bridge Drivers Mistake Fox For Dog On Ice: Police

ANNAPOLIS, MD — Their hearts were in the right place, but it turns out no help was needed at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Thursday morning. Drivers called police to report a dog was stuck on ice near the bridge, but officers with Maryland Natural Resources Police found the so-called stranded canine was a fox making its way along the ice.

Cpl. Mike Lathroum snapped a couple of photos of the critter, which checked out the patrol boat and headed for the Eastern Shore, the agency said on Facebook. ‬

Four officers launched the department’s largest boat, the Metal Shark, from Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis to search the waters for a dog in trouble. What they found was a healthyfox on the ice that was most likely hunting, said Maryland NRP spokeswoman Candy Thomson told The Washington Post.

“The fox eyeballed the officers and then scampered off toward the Eastern Shore,” Thomson said.

Hundreds of Marylanders have shared the photos on Facebook. And one reader asked if the wandering fox made it safely back to land.

Police said, "Conditions and other demands made it impossible for officers to follow it all the way back to shore. But that was the direction it was headed."

Another commenter wondered if the fox near the bridge was the same one she spotted recently that dodged traffic as it ran from the Kmart on Route 50 up to the Chesapeake gun store. "He’s pretty risky!" she posted.

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Photos by Cpl. Mike Lathroum, Maryland Natural Resources Police