Do you love foxes or know someone who does? Foxes are not only intelligent they are also totally cute! The beautiful red fox, with its bushy tail and dog-like face is an efficient nocturnal creature which has 48 sub-species of fox including colour variations termed silver or cross fox.
Do you know these facts about foxes?
- A fox’s den is normally a burrow underground, also known as an ‘earth’, but they can also live above ground in a cosy hollow.
- While they are solitary animals, during breeding season (winter) when they court and mate, the dog fox will support the female (vixen) by bringing food for the family (early spring).
- You can often hear the mating calls, which is a sharp, high-pitched shrieking/screaming noise, which can sound quite terrifying.
- Vixens are occasionally assisted in rearing their cubs by a non-breeding sister or a female cub from a previous litter. These ‘aunts’ gain valuable experience which helps them to rear their own litter successfully the next season. Occasionally there can be two dog fox’s associated with one vixen.
- The cubs’ eyes and ears open after two weeks and at four weeks they will emerge from their dens. They have short noses which resemble puppies when born. However, many cubs die prematurely due to other predators (dogs, badgers), but their worst predator is the motor vehicle. They also can die of starvation or cold during hard winters.
- They catch small rodents with a characteristic high pounce. This technique is one of the first things cubs learn as they begin to hunt.
- Did you know that foxes have whiskers on their legs as well as around their faces, which they use to help them find their way?
- Foxes have also been known to climb trees and settle on low branches.
- Foxes are great night-time predators because their eyes are specially adapted to night vision. Behind the light sensitive cells lies another layer called the tapetum lucidum which reflects light back through the eye. This doubles the intensity of images received by the fox. Their eyes glow green when light is shone into them at night.
via buzzfeed