A 500-year-old misericord in Ripon Cathedral depicting a fox has been restored.
The choir of the cathedral has a set of 32 misericords created by master carver William Bromflet in the 1490s.
The misericords, which are small seats, gave clergy the opportunity to rest from standing during worship.
The fox is thought to have lost its nose and arms at some point during the last 100 years.
The restoration by Henning Shulz is the final part of a wider conservation project of the medieval choir stalls.
A post on the cathedral’s social media said:
“We are delighted to see the return of this freshly restored misericord (mercy seat for perching on during long services), which depicts a fox preaching from the pulpit to an assembled congregation of birds – his prey.
“This was a common motif in the middle ages, warning against travelling preachers who would lead their flock astray for their own gains.
“At some point this fox lost his arms and then, sometime in the last century, his nose. We know this from a 100 year old photograph which shows the fox ‘armless’ but with his nose.
“These seats are 500 years old and in daily use – remarkable survivals from our medieval past.”
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Unlucky fox found stuck in netting on Harrogate school field
An unlucky fox was rescued by RSPCA officers on Friday afternoon after finding itself stuck in netting left on a Harrogate school field.
The fox got stuck in some football netting on Rossett school field. With the help of an RSPCA officer it was able to be released.
The animal was found unharmed but just a little muddy.
The charity used the image to ask people to put any netting away when it isn’t being used to avoid other animals getting themselves stuck in the gaps.
https://twitter.com/RSPCA_Frontline/status/1357732552694521856
“This poor fox was well and truly tangled in football netting. I managed to cut him free and then checked him over and thankfully he wasn’t injured so I was able to release him back to the wild.“I advised the groundsman of the school to remove the netting whilst it is not in use. Unfortunately, people may not realise that netting such as goal nets pose a real hazard to our wildlife and many wild animals get trapped in them.”
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Each year the RSPCA gets around 2,500 calls each year about animals trapped in netting.
As many of these animals are nocturnal the RSPCA says that many are left trapped and struggling overnight so often need veterinary treatment before they can be released.