For many animals, their reputation precedes them. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily a good thing, as many of these reputations are built on a bedrock of misconceptions and an impatient tendency to judge without offering any recourse. I mean, frankly, animals can’t call us to settle a problem in court. Foxes are often portrayed as deceitful and cunning creatures, often the direct equivalent of evil. But like any other animal, they are simply living their lives on instinct, so don’t take anything they do personally. If they are clever enough to fool their fellows, that can only be a bonus in the harsh world of the wild, right? Well, a Dutch photographer named Rosalind Raymond has decided to capture the other side of foxes, capturing them in beautiful photographs that showcase their loving and charming nature. By lining them up, we also learn 11 Amazing Facts About Foxes That Will Make You Love Them to learn something new about them.
Although members of the Canidae family, along with dogs, wolves and jackals, foxes behave differently from their relatives in terms of organization. They do not gather in packs, preferring to hunt and live alone. The only exception is when they form small families called "fox leashes" and live in underground burrows.
Another ironic fact: foxes are more like cats than other members of their canine family. For example, they behave like cats: they walk on their toes and sneak up on and then pounce on the prey they hunt. But that’s not all: foxes are also genetically similar to cats. They become significantly more active after dark, as they have vertical pupils that allow them to see in dim light, and they also have retractable claws! This means they can climb trees, often preferring to take a nap among the branches.
Have you ever seen a fox dive headfirst into a pile of snow, leaving only its lower legs hanging out? Yeah, what do you do with that? As crazy as it sounds, scientists are pretty sure that foxes can detect the Earth’s magnetic field and use it to calculate where to hit their prey – sort of like a missile. However, this can only happen when facing north, and it requires some serious, constant concentration. Still, how cool is that?
As all these photos show, foxes are devoted to their young with unwavering loyalty. They reproduce once a year, giving birth to an average of six cubs, which are born blind until they open their eyes nine days later. The cubs stay with their parents until they are seven months old. An incredible example of the parental love that foxes carry is the case of a fox cub caught in a trap, surviving because its mother brought it food every day.
Besides the red fox, the most well-known species of fox is the arctic fox. This subspecies extremely adapted to the cold climate of the northernmost hemisphere. Its fur coat helps it blend in with the snow, and it is warm enough to keep the fox from shivering in temperatures as low as -70 degrees Celsius. In other seasons, the fur changes color to brown or gray, which helps it camouflage itself in the rocky tundra.
Part of the reason foxes are associated with so many sinister things is due to their depiction in traditional folklore from various civilizations. Perhaps the most famous example is the nine-tailed fox, a recurring theme in many Asian cultures, although the fox also features in medieval European and North American lore. Did you know that the Finns believed that the Northern Lights were created by a fox using its tail to sweep sparks into the sky?
If you're starting to like foxes based on the information so far, fear not: For $9,000, you can have one as a pet yourself. A Soviet geneticist began mass breeding foxes in the late 1960s, eventually producing a kind of domesticated fox that, unlike tame foxes, is naturally docile toward humans. Presumably, as pets, these foxes are cute and curious, but you might want to keep your expensive furniture away from them.
Foxes are very curious and playful, both with their own kind and with people (though whether people would want to join in is debatable). In fact, oddly enough, they love balls, so you can see them invading golf courses and snatching them.
Even if dogs really are man's best friend, they are not the oldest our friends. In 2011, researchers excavated a 16,000-year-old grave in Jordan and found the remains of a man and his presumed pet fox. If true, this would mean that humans had domesticated foxes and taken them with them long before the first recorded human buried with a dog.
The most common type of fox is the red fox, which is mostly inferior to its excellent adaptability in terms of diet and environment. So red foxes can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arctic to South Africa, to Central America and even to the steppes of Asia.
They scream. This is what they basically sound like, and you can listen to it here . Warning to all headphone users.
I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t stop looking at these pictures. Foxes just need to be given a chance, you know? I mean, yeah, they can snatch baby chicks right out of the warm embrace of their nests, but no normal, instinctive animal has ever done anything like that before. If we remember all of these 11 amazing facts about foxes that will make you love them, we can start to appreciate foxes for the adorable animals they really are.
Оставить Комментарий