It was a heartfelt moment that a pair of Russian truckers wouldn’t soon forget as they made their way down an empty, remote street one December day. The two were heading down the deserted road as they would any other day, when they noticed a blurry orange figure in the distance that they couldn’t quite make out. As they got closer, they slowly realized that more was going on here than meets the eye, and a memorable adventure involving a furry little friend was about to unfold. Lucky for us, they caught the whole thing on video and shared it on YouTube, where it’s touched many a heart since. Here’s a play-by-play recap of the story and the amazing impact it’s had on so many viewers.

20. Curiosity

Baby foxes are known as kits, and they leave their mothers at the age of just seven months to fend for themselves. As good as these little fellas are at making it on their own in the world, they also have a tendency for curiosity and exploration. Curiosity can be a great thing, but curiosity can also “kill the cat” if you’re not careful, as this cute little baby fox you’re about to see learned the hard way.

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19. Silhouette

It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s...a baby fox! One little baby fox was out looking for food and exploring his surroundings when it inadvertently wandered into some trouble.

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18. A Turn for the Worse

It seems that this particular kit’s natural curiosity got the better of it, as when looking for food it somehow got its head stuck in a jar that someone had carelessly discarded on the side of the road. The poor baby fox could not get its head out and was clearly going to be in some life-threatening trouble if the situation didn’t change quickly.

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17. Tricky Situation

The fox likely got himself into this predicament while searching for food, possibly smelling the remnants of whatever food had been in the jar before. Luckily though, this kit chose to do more than sit around and accept its gloomy fate.

16. Weapon of Choice

The culprit in this whole situation was a glass jar, something that can be very dangerous for animals.

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15. Eureka!

Luckily for this fox, a bright idea came to him at just the right moment—and it was now or never!

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14. Time for Action

As the heartwarming footage shows, the distressed animal approached the two men and quietly stood still beside them, as if to communicate that it was in need of help.

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13. A Shot in the Dark

The fox may have had some trouble seeing through the glass surface of the jar, but decided to give it his best shot.

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12. A Helping Hand

Lucky for the fox, the two men were interested in helping, and they proceeded to try to remove the jar from its head, all while recording video footage of the whole thing.

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11. Habitat

Russia is mainly home to two different kinds of foxes: red and arctic. The little critter in our story was the red kind.

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10. Obstacle

The two men began trying to remove the jar from the kit’s head. It wasn’t an easy process though. The fox began to squirm uncomfortably as the tight jar was maneuvered and tugged on by its new human companions.

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9. Approaching the Finish Line

The men’s efforts were about to pay off, and they were just moments away from freeing the fox and showing the worldwide internet audience the cute little creature’s adorable face.

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8. Take Two

After their first attempt to wiggle the fox out failed to work, they tried a new strategy: gently pulling on the fox’s body while shifting the jar, slowly but surely releasing the fox to freedom.

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7. Freedom at Last

The moment the fox got out, it excitedly ran back towards the woods.

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6. Sarcastic Comment

The fox’s abrupt run towards the woods prompted its rescuers to joke that he forgot to say thank you—and that’s precisely when this incident reached a new level of awesomeness.

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5. Thank You!

The two men might have spoken too soon. The adorable little fella, his cute face now fully on display, stopped to glance back at the two men for a moment before leaving the scene completely. I guess that was the grateful fox’s way of saying “thank you” after all, and the whole world got to watch it on YouTube!

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4. Real Impact

The kindness of the two men really did save the poor animal’s young life. Stuck with its head in the jar, unable to even fully see its surroundings, it surely would not have been able to survive if someone hadn’t helped it soon.

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3. Opportunity

One thing that the sharing of this video brought people to realize is just how dangerous littering can be to animals. Witnessing a cute little furry face going through a real struggle as a result of something as uneventful to most people as throwing a piece of garbage on the ground really made the problem real for a lot of viewers, and awakened some passionate feelings about the matter.

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2. Taking up the Cause

Viewers of this video were not the first ones to discover the dangerous side effects of litter, of course. Animal advocacy organizations like PETA have long warned about the dangers that everyday items such as cans and jars can pose to animals searching for food, and have even written about the issue of littering on their website.

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1. Moral of the Story

If there’s one key takeaway from this incident, it’s to please recycle and not to be careless with your garbage. Also, washing jars before discarding them can help avert the issue of animals trying to investigate them for food. For that, I’m sure this fox and many others would be truly grateful!

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