Foxes are very beautiful animals, many folk tales and songs have been invented about them, but who are foxes really?
Fact number one.
The fox is a large mammal that belongs to the canine family. As a rule, representatives of the canine family have the same signs regarding appearance: an elongated head; pointed ears; thin paws; long and fluffy tail. Foxes have sensitive hairs on their muzzle, and they also have a rough tongue.
Fact number two.
The fox body’s length depends on the breed and ranges from fifty-five to ninety centimeters. The tail of a fox can reaches sixty centimeters. The fur on the chest, and also the tip of the fluffy tail is white. The ears are pointed and have a dark color on the back side.
Fact number three.
The tail for fox isn’t just a decoration, but an important organ. He helps keep the animal in balance while running, also in winter they wrap themselves around it to protect themselves from the cold.
Fact number four.
The fox has the thickest and most lush fur in winter. A fluffy tail helps her from the cold. At the end of winter, she begins a period of molting, which lasts until summer.
Fact number five.
In captivity, animals can live up to twenty-five years, and in the wild, their maximum age is about eight years.
Fact number six.
During the mating season, animals dance a kind of dance called the “fox foxtrot”. During this dance foxes rise on their hind legs and walk in front of each other a long time. When males fight for a female, it isn’t the big and strong that wins, but the smartest.
Fact number seven.
Fox cubs are blind at birth, their eyes open only on the tenth day. During this period, their teeth begin to erupt(teethe?). Outwardly, newborn babies are more like wolf cubs than representatives of the fox family. The weight of foxes at birth doesn’t exceed one hundred and fifty grams.
Fact number eight.
Foxes have one peculiar way of getting rid of fleas. Foxes go deep into the water with a stick in their teeth, and the fleas get across into this trap. After a while, the animal throws out a stick, and with-it annoying fleas.
Fact number nine.
Foxes have the ability to make a wide variety of different sounds. Scientists have counted about forty different sounds that these animals can make. For example, they can imitate the barking of a dog.
Fact number ten.
Foxes aren’t one hundred percent predators. Ordinary foxes feed mainly on mice, which make up about seventy percent of the ration, other twenty percent are wild hares. Other part is occupied plant food, birds, insects, worms. They are happy to eat berries, apples, some vegetables.
The first of November is Fox Day. Historically, it was in early November that fox hunting season opened in Europe, when efforts were made to kill as many foxes as possible living on the continent of Europe.
Foxes were destroyed because they were considered to be carriers of rabies and a threat to domestic animals.
However, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the uncontrolled and mass hunting of foxes was banned in many countries, scientists invented a vaccine against rabies and the first of November was celebrated to raise awareness of the importance of protecting the diversity of wildlife, including foxes.
