0:14
Pictures of the cute -- but potentially dangerous -- creature first popped up on social media on Monday. A fox was spotted scavenging on the streets nearby Tuesday afternoon, despite the area being crowded with tourists now that the Capitol complex reopened to the public last month after being mostly closed for two years because of the pandemic.
After workers spent hours trying to find the animal in question, Capitol Police tweeted a photo at 3:36 p.m. Tuesday of the culprit in a cage with the line \"Captured.\"
#BREAKING: Captured. pic.twitter.com/LJAn2ZjH9J
— U.S. Capitol Police (@CapitolPolice) April 5, 2022
Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, told reporters she had a close encounter with the fox Monday evening and showed a video she took of the usually nocturnal animal.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/fox-1-ht-er-220405_1649193067005_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Some on the internet were quick to call for the fox -- who was captured with the help of the Humane Rescue Alliance -- to be freed. One social media account cosplaying as the \"Capitol Fox\" also appeared on Twitter Tuesday, even releasing a statement on what the fox called its \"illegal arrest.\"
\"As a fox, I cannot speak. And too often -- I have nobody to speak for me. They mock me in songs, they wear me as clothes, and they hunt me down like a criminal in my home. For what, I ask you?\" the statement said.
PLEASE SEE MY OFFICIAL STATEMENT BELOW! pic.twitter.com/n2nKZ2kGao
— Capitol Fox (@thecapitolfox) April 5, 2022
Notably, the only way to test for rabies in canines is to test their brain, which requires them to be put down.
No other foxes were found on the Capitol Hill grounds, DC Health said Wednesday, but advised anyone who came into physical contact with a fox or its kits near Capitol Hill to contact the agency.
ABC News' Justin Fishel, Sarah Shales and Trish Turner contributed to this report.
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