Foxes | |
---|---|
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Chordata |
Sub-Phylum: | Vertebrata |
Class: | Mammalia |
Order: | Carnivora |
Family: | Canidae |
Genus: | Vulpes/Alopex/... |
Species: | Vulpes Vulpes,... |
Walking Locomotion by a saunter troting. With the so-called (German)
"Schnüren" all feet are set exactly in front of each other. A Trace
of paw-prints seems to be put up as on an even band. When being on the
flight Foxes are using a fast Gallop, Kit Foxes may even zigzag. All of
them can swimm, Corsacs and species living in the virgin-forest are often
seen climbing trees.
Communication They communicate by howling, search- and abandonment
barking, yapping, snarling, whimpering. Foxes have up to 40 different sounds
availiable for communication.
They've a skunk-like smell, known as "foxy". During courtship, vixen
and dog mark their teritory with it.
Foxes have multiple scent glands, f.a. one near their anus and one
on their tail, (like many other canids, in the case of foxes known as viole),
"but the significance it plays communication is unknown" (Lloyd 1980; Henry
1986).
Hearing, smelling are excellent. And they can run up to 72Kmh(=45mph) (according to Milton Hildebrand) (30 mph according to Nowak (1991)) (Gray fox 28 mph for short distances) which is only a little slower than a cheetah and makes them one of the fastest mamals and he's able to jump over barriers 6½ feet high (Nowak)
Hunting When being alone they hunt by creeping and short assault
or waylaying. Little mamals are pressed to the ground using the forepaws
and killed by a following bite. Red Foxes do(often doubted) play dead for
lureing birds and catch them. Mostly they go to a medow for hunting and
try to find mices with their excelent smelling and hearing. Thats why hunters
try to allure foxes by imitating the sound of a mouse (Well, at first you
have to be good because he knows exactly how a mouse sounds and second
he's mostly clever enough not to show up directly in front of you.).
Being hunted doesn't affect a stable fox population at all.
Neither the number of foxes nor the spreading of diseases decrase. The
foxes react to the drop in population (or indirect to the raise of food-availability)
with a growing litter-size. The only effect of non-extensive hunting that
could be proved was a drop in the avarage age.
Nutrition Except of carrion and drops (exspecially Red Foxes
at outskirts of a town or Ice Foxes near to human settlements or expedition-camps)
animals of every sort from beetle- to amply rabbit-size , worms, snails,
fish, frogs, lizards, eggs, jung and developed birds, including e.g. ducks,
pheasants, suckle, even developed weakned deers (quite unusual but it happenes)
make up a quite big list of availiable food. His main nutrition is made
up by small mamals, e.g. for Red Foxes rats, mice, especially voles, for
Ice Foxes lemmings, for Kit Foxes grasshoppers, for the Kama Fox running-mice.
In addition, vegetable food, especially grapes. If times are hard a fox
may completely life of berries and fruits, but he'll always try not to
;) .
Foxes do scavange and they have little fear marching
directly into a town (Which doesn't mean that they have no fear to meet
a human or dog.). Well, they are clever enough to steal a dog's food from
'under his nose' and get every food laid out for them or others. Or is
there a difference for a fox between a piece of meet and a piece of meet?
This is of course only for wild foxes
He will allways try to take away his prey in order to eat at a secure
place and if it's 'more than he can chew' he will cache the food for later.
Dayly amounth of vitamines needed (may vary, quite old source but believable):
A 5000IE B1 2mg B2 2mg B6 2mg Panthothenacid 2mg Boitin 0,3mg Folacid 2mg B12 2mg C ------ D 500IE E 15IE K -------Less than 50 calories can be fed to wild foxes without changing their hunting-behavior (aprox. 600 cal are needed to survive the day(David Macdonald)).
There where Pictures of foxes playing dead in order to hunt crows in old animal-books of the 12th centuary. The people thought it was a kind of fairy tail untill these pictures where made by a photographer from russia in 1961.
Keeping
This is what a standart fox-compound looks like: similar to jackals.
accommodation: as spacious as possible, in small compounds: concrete-ground
which can be squirtled daily (they smell only if keeped in (too) small
cages like in (fur-)farms; normally the're very clean). In systems in which
one pair is kept the Ground should have measures of min. 4,5 x 4,5 meters
with hidden quiet huts for hiding; also a sand-coated mould would do good.
Also in bear-systems with hiding places that are not accessible for the
bears.(f.a. Tama-Zoo Japan,Tokio Jap. Brown-bears (Ursus arctos lasiotus)
and jap. Red Foxes (V.v.japonica))
I myself don't think of this as fitting the needs of a fox. He walks
up to 70Km/day so a fenced part of wood would be better than such a little
cage. Digging or enlargening his dens would (too) be quite difficult on
concrete ground. If he starts to climb (and he isn't a gray fox or one
of the S.American ones) it is considert to be a sign of bad keeping conditions
(as walking round and round like Rilke's Panter).
To give him living mices or a grashooper would be an improvement too.
Temperature: Red Foxes, related Asiatic species, Kit-, Ice and Corsac Foxes are winterproof. Kama-Foxes and related African species may be kept warmly in winter. Ice-Foxes are sensitive to heat (between July & August there are frequent death-cases)
fur farms: In fur farms they are kept in small string cages with a wooden sleep box and wire ground (cheap cleaning, little fur soiling). It's dificult for the animals to walk on the wire-ground ( They often get brine- and toe inflammation as well as insufficient claw wear).
For breading they are (how else) kept in pairs. In big systems, that are just for showing, it's possible to keep them in groups as long as a secure hiding-place for every animal is available. Group keeping like wolves. Seldom Complications. The necesary security equals that for jackals and wolves.
Feeding: Like jackals, more flesh, Ice Foxes fish too. Food per day: In the summer and fall 500-600 gramm, in the winter a bit less. For farm Foxes similar to farm minks Vitamin B1 deficiency (symptom/illness) after too much feeding with fish.
reproduction and breeding: They mate like wolves and jackals
and have to be care for like for jackals. More in the "reproduction" section
for each species. The breeding in groups is often unsuccessful. The dog
fox may remain with the female; he involves himself in rearing, through
guarding, defense and later through feeding.
In the wild (at least in european red fox populations) it has often
been reported that female yearlings
do also help what gives them more experience than the ones who left
the year before.
Breeding was (up to now) only in the case of Fennecs, Ice-, Corsac-
and Red Foxes successful; it seldomly succeeded with Kit-Foxes. (May have
changed, at least there is a quite successful bread with swift-foxes in
Chochrane Canada)
Ice-Foxes mostly have a big litter size but a high cub mortality. The
dug strip swells before birth. Ice- and Corsac Foxes 8, Red Fox and residual
6 teats. Birth weight 80-150 g (Red Fox) Childs are blind, skin is briefly,
fluffily, mostly gray-brown. Red Foxes with yellow-white forehead bandage,
throatspot and tailend white. Recolored in 4 weeks. Eye opening at 12th
to 14th day, first solid food (broken out nutrition digested by parents)
and breakdown of the canine teeth with 15-20 days. Young ones leave the
den with 4 weeks the first time for short time, follow the mother with
1,5 - 2 Monat regularly. May Remain with the mother till shortly before
the next rut time, however they are mostly gone with 3-4 months.
synthetic rearing Like wolves, not always successful. bottlefeed cubs are very tame and faithful, also less often biting than adults or wolves. House broken. They only become smelling in too small preserves --> excrements).
Aldest age in human care: Ice-Foxes 14, Red Foxes nearly 12 Kit-Foxes almost 13 years. Gray-Foxes 11 years.
-Bahavior: Gestures:
-mostly like dogs or wolfes (but less amouth of social behavior)
-if he leans his(/her) ears on their head, duck, show their teeth and
give a cracking sound = let him his peace, he's angry.
-name in other languages:
Fuchs (German)
Renard (French)
Volpe (Italian)
Zorro (Spanish)
Rav (Swedish)
Chu la (Native American, Choctaw Tribe)
I na li (Native American, Cherokee Tribe -= means 'Black Fox')
Kitsune (Japanese) (normaly vulpes
vulpes japonica)
Kiwaku ( Native American, Pawnee Tribe - = 'White Fox')
Lis (Polish)
Lishka (Czech)
(russian = meand
red fox)
[Pesetz] (russian = meand red fox)
Krestovatiki, Nedopesiki (russian)
Sionnach (Gaelic)
Ti li pe (Nez Perce Tribe, Native American)
Tod (British) (dog foxes are also called Tod(d)s)
To ka la luta ( Native American, Dakota Tribe = 'Red Fox')
Toka no ( Native American, Assiniboin Tribe = 'Gray Fox')
Tso la ( Native American, Creek Tribe)
Wa ko ( Native American, Menomi Tribe = means 'Red Fox')
Wokwses ( Native American, Abenaki Tribe)