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Artistic-Vixen — Red Fox
Published: 2008-11-01 22:49:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 1159; Favourites: 25; Downloads: 23
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Okay. I must tell the story of this series of photos. I love foxes. They are my favorite animal (along with wolves). I have never really seen one in the wild. My parents and I were driving down the mountain from the visitor's center. I glanced around and saw a man pulled over at an outcropping area (for sightseers and such) and I saw what he was photographing. I immediately let out this gasp and said: "Oh my god! Fox!" My parents pulled over and parked near where the guy was. I leapt out of the car with my camera and got ready to take a picture of the fox sitting on short stone wall, but he was gone! I put my camera down, very sad. I finally get to see a fox in the wild and I don't even get a picture. Quite suddenly, the fox hopped right back up on the wall near where I was. He jumped down and approached me. I immediately started taking pictures. He walked within two feet of me and stopped, sniffing and staring at me. He realized I didn't have any food and walked over to where my parents were parked and sat down, staring at them. When he realized he wasn't going to get any food from us, he wandered off. Most of my pictures don't have the entirety of the fox because I was afraid that I would scare him if I moved. Seeing that fox just made my day.I originally thought this was a gray fox, but I was informed by that it was actually a color morph red fox. I did some researching and he was right 'cause the red fox is the only one that has the "black stockings" on its legs. Pretty cool.
Photo taken at Mount Rainier National Park.
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Comments: 38
that's a pretty cool story
I've seen two foxes in a zoo, but no wildlife fox ... you're lucky!
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What I found hilarious was the fact that foxes are one of my top two favorite animals and this was my first close encounter with one whereas everyone else in my family have had experiences like this one. XD
I hope you see a wild one someday. Even if it's from afar it's still quite an experience.
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actually, if a fox running over the street in front of our car counts as a meet... but it was night and he ran really quickly...
I guess that doesn't really count...
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I'd call that more of a sighting, but it's still rather thrilling.
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yeah, but really dangerous for the fox...
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True. Most of the sightings I've had since then are foxes running across the road. It always makes me worry. 
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yeah, it's pretty bad that they're walking over the road in front of cars... if they thought of cars as enemies, it would be much better
in germany they want to build many bridges for wildlife animals to cross the road without danger. I've already seen one of these large bridges and fence was everywhere else so the animals couldn't get on the road
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The foxes I've seen tend to be pretty smart about when they cross the highways (like they wait until a very large gap in traffic), but then there are the dumb ones that really don't see cars as enemies until it's too late or if they're lucky they just have a close call. In America we had a big problem with Pumas getting killed on roads, so there are some places that have the animal tunnels that go under the road, but they aren't wide spread. Most places just try to build fences, which don't work very well, or they just leave things alone and put up signs telling motorists to watch out for animals crossing the road.
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pumas crossing the road? 
yeah, they're trying tunnels here, too... but the animals don't really like them...
signs, signs... who cares for signs? Most of the signs are ignored, stolen or destroyed by people.
On almost every road I see there are signs to be careful: be careful of deer, be careful of children, be careful of whatever...
people should know it now, but still there are many traffic accidents... 
and... with the foxes... isn't it a little bit of natural election?
the smart ones survive and the silly ones dies?
but that's a really rude way
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Yeah, other animals have difficulty with the tunnels because pumas do actually use them, so it makes them nervous. In America, deer, possums, and raccoons are the ones who fall prey to cars on the highway the most, which isn't that bad when it comes to deer. We have too many in the midwest and they have absolutely no natural predators, so cars kind of replace that in a way.
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modern way of hunting?
but it's a big risk for humans, too
they can be killed in an accident with animals...
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Well, cars are not so much modern day way of hunting as a potential danger to the animal's life with a high fatality rate. A car is definitely not a recommended hunting tool. XD Actual hunting by humans with guns or bows replaces what the natural predator would've done.
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do you know someone who has a bow and some arrows 
but natural pedators would pick out the ill, old and week ones
and humans kill everything they see
furthermore animals kill for living and humans kill for joy
I support the animal way, because it isn't cruel but natural and logical
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There is a hunting season that's strictly for hunting with a compact bow and arrows. No idea what the point is, but I guess it's for people who don't like guns, but still want to hunt. There are quite a few people who hunt here because they make a living out of it. They serve as game meat providers for restaurants and butchers. Pretty much if you hunt any sort of game you're expected to use it whether you use it for yourself or you find a buyer. Yes, there are humans who get a rush when they hunt, but many of them do strictly hunt for the more primitive and natural purpose of obtaining meat. Hunters also can't go after one animal all year round. There are seasons for each game animal and there's a limit to how many animals you can kill during the season. There are huge fines for going past that limit, too.
I think it's crueler to let overpopulated animals slowly starve to death, which is the case in certain areas with deer.
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ok, I didn't know of hunting seasons with bow and arrows
but I've heard of the limit earlier from whale hunting
...and I think I've heard from somewhere if there's an accident and
for example the deer is dead, you can call the huntsman
he sells the dead animal to a restaurant then
and it's good that the law is strict to the ones which killed too many animals
yeah, overpopulation is really one of the big problems
'cause of that they try to bring wolves and lynx back here
I don't know if they can, because the people have to accept them first
and that will be difficult...really
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We do have some wolf release programs in places like the Rockies and states nearby that area, but the people who run those are always fighting with the cattle and sheep ranchers. The reintroduction of wolves is very controlled. I don't know if there have been any programs involving other predator animals though.
I live in a suburb that has lots of wooded areas and it's amazing how much outcry there was when it was discovered that a pair of coyotes had moved into the area. We don't have ranchers in the suburbs, but we do have stupid pet owners who want to let their declawed, outdoor cats roam free all day without getting eaten or want to let their small dog outside and not have to spend time watching them. The same sort of people made a fuss about the neighborhood foxes. Luckily, the animal control people have said no to their requests every time because the animals haven't done anything to humans, so there's no reason to remove them.
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here in germany they wanted to bring back wolves and lynx
or at least I've heard ruomours of that
but fact is that the wolves themselves came back to germany through Poland and everybody was surprised they chose a military training area (this was in 2000)
right now for most people this is ok and I hope this will stay this way
...and I don't get it why some people want to declaw their cats... they should think of what their pet can do and need before buying one
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I hope it stays that way, too.
I don't like the idea of declawing a cat, but I can understand why people started to do it. However, I doubt many people realize that declawing is a surgery not cutting nails and now there are so many alternatives for dealing with any clawing issues that there really isn't a viable reason to do the surgery anymore. The fact that there are people who declaw their cat and then let it be an outdoor cat is something that completely escapes me though. It's like the people who file their dog's teeth because they worry about it biting people. Ugh. Then there's tail docking and ear cropping. I'm not a fan of the practice, but I can understand it being done for non-cosmetic purposes. I also understand why the American Kennel Club is so stuck on keeping the practice going because Americans are so used to seeing a specific image for certain breeds and we tend to throw tantrums if people try to change something familiar. XD
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I think filing dog teeth is pretty weird
because if the dog bites, then it's the owners's fault not to train the dog against that
and why do some people crop ears and other things?
if they want a dog with ears standing up, they easily can buy one with those ears
and there are races born without tail
because the most important thing is the education
yeah, traditions and familiar views are good, but sometimes it's better to try new things out and to correct old ones
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The ear cropping and tail docking had a purpose when it first started. While for some breeds it was to make the dog look more ferocious, for the most part it was done to avoid injuries when they were doing their job. This was before the medical break throughs that made infections not so dangerous. Also, apparently in Early Georgian times in the UK there was a tax on dog tails and docking tails helped people avoid tax. Nowadays it mostly persists because of people being selfish and not understanding just how much it affects the dog. I can understand doing the procedures if there's a medical reason, but purely cosmetic reasons, no.
I agree. Besides, I've seen examples of the breeds that are traditionally subjected to those procedures without such alterations and they're so much cuter. XD
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in germany the cropping and docking is forbidden
but I guess, some people simply buy their dog
cropped or docked in a country without this law
Why did they make a tax on dog tails?
I would like a tax on docked tails more
so most people wouldn't do it anymore.
By the way, dog- and catbreeds born without tail are inbred,
so most of the time they have congenital diseases.
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Probably. Hopefully they don't.
I have no idea. Maybe it was just another thing that could be taxed back then. I'd like to see a tax for docking and cropping, but unfortunately I don't think it'll exist any time soon in America. I live in Missouri where there are puppy mills and we passed a wonderful bill that would crack down on them...and now there are people in the state senate trying to get it repealed. So much for democracy.
Nowadays breeders are trying to avoid inbreeding them, but it can still happen with the bad breeders. It's the same with certain colors of breeds. Poodle breeders in the past did that with apricots because both parents have to have the apricot colored coat if you want apricot pups. In recent years the issue was chihuahuas. They're actually one of the healthiest breeds because they don't have much history of being inbred, but since they became so popular there are breeders who are inbreeding and it's produced some terrible results. There was a litter born somewhere and all the puppies were deformed. No front legs (a few had some stumps where the legs were supposed to be, but a couple didn't even have that).
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well, that's a problem... but I think
the government has to handle that... or an
organization at least. I hope that this stupid
tax on undocked and uncropped dogs won't be
repeated...
Whoa! Poor Chihuahuas. And that just because of
some foolish breeders. Really sad.
By the way, I've heard that white cats with blue
eyes are sometimes deaf (but I don't know if this
is a symtom of inbred)
Speaking about that, I've seen a film about amur
leopards and they're pretty much inbred (sadly)
[link]
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Probably not. The animal rights groups would storm the capital if that happened. A tax on docked and cropped dogs is more likely to happen, but it probably never will. Our government doesn't pay much attention to that. XD
Sometimes, but not always. It has to do with genetics. I'm reading an article about it right now [link] (hopefully it's a good source.
As to the Amur Leopards, there's probably been some amount of inbreeding because there are so few in the wild, but that hasn't been scientifically proven (the wiki article says the results are inconclusive). There are multiple zoos around the world with Amur Leopard breeding programs and they work hard to make sure there's no inbreeding. Hopefully they'll be able to do reintroduction programs so new genetic stock can join the wild populations.
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ah ok
In wikipedia they wrote that these Amur Leopards in zoos
are the descedants of nine wild Amur Leopards,
but wouldn't that mean that all of them are inbred, too??
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They are descendants of nine, but I don't think the nine were related. If you branch out enough you can avoid major inbreeding. I mean Amur leopards can have up to four cubs, so there's a lot of possibilities for mate combinations that keep the genetic material fresh. I think the wild ones are probably more likely to be inbred since they don't have the controlled, selective breeding that zoos do, but who knows. Think about it as though it were one of those math problems that asks you to list all possible combinations. If done right you won't get the combos that can lead to inbreeding. XD
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aha
I know these charts from biology
we tried it there with peas
to think out how many would have which color and shape
but it still is a bit weird to demise that to animals...
this reminds me of these white tigers in zoos
as *woxys said here [link] , they're inbred, too.
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Man. That's sad about the white tigers. I love white tigers, but if that's how they're generally reproduced...I'd rather they stopped.
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lucky you seeing a fox in the wild 
very beautyful picture
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Really? Hmm. I just checked it out and I think you're right. Gray foxes don't have the dark fur on the legs like the one in my picture does. That's really interesting.
Thank you very much.
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My god, you're so lucky. He's beautiful. ^^
I used to live in WA, and my grandparents live really close to Mt. Rainier. Been up there a few times, but I've never seen any foxes.
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I'm still amazed I got to see him! I've never had much luck when it comes to seeing foxes until then. We had a red fox living in our area a couple years ago and everyone in my family saw him except me. I only caught a glimpse of him on New Year's Eve and even then he was hard to see since it was night.
I love your avatar! It's so cute!
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Wow. That must have been an awesome experience. I like this a lot!
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Thank you! It was absolutely amazing! Gray Foxes tend to be more timid than other foxes, so it was really cool that he stuck around like that.
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