Adopt a Fox

The fox is a medium sized mammal, with over 30 different types, and are part of the Canidae family. This group of animals includes domestic dogs, wolves and jackals. They have a long bushy tail, upright triangular ears, and a lot of controversy has surrounded them due to the fact they are used for ‘sport’ by hunters in the UK.

Usually in the UK they are red in colour, and in the wild can live up to a decade. This doesn’t happen very often though as due to road accidents, disease and the dreaded hunt, most foxes very rarely live to see their 3rd birthday. Foxes are seen as cunning clever animals, but most are quite shy and wouldn’t normally bother anyone unless they felt under threat.

Males can weigh up to 13lbs, and tend to live with their close descendants, and not in packs like other members of the Canidae family. They are taught to hunt from a very young age, and even though they mostly eat small rodents, they are also partial to a few fruits and berries! The grey fox is a very interesting creature, as it is was once turned into a domestic pet in Russia, and it is also one of the few dogs who can climb trees! Pretty smart animals we would say.

Foxes can come into conflict with humans with the problems ranging from the large and life-threatening, like rabies, through to more local such as the loss of livestock. Foxes can infuriate and enchant, but few who glimpse them padding lightly through a dewy dawn would deny they are amongst the most attractive creatures on earth. The future of the world’s foxes shares the same uncertainties that threatens all of Nature, the root cause is the sprawling growth of the human population and the loss and fragmentation of habitat which confines small numbers to slivers of wilderness.