Finding Mr. Fox

Happy Friday, Missy!

So glad you guys could join me for another post.  I'm up and at em' early today; and I'm ready to slay!  I've got a lot to get done; so, I gotta utilize the day to the fullest!  Can you believe this is the last Friday in the month of September for 2018?  It seems like this month flew by.  But that's okay.  It just simply means we're that much closer to my favorite month of the year, (and the month we kick off Pet Spooktacular).

But let's slow down a sec.  We've still got one more blog post in September (after today's), and then we'll have the whole month of October to look forward to creepy posts and spooky Missy Show episodes.  So, until then, let's talk about today post.  Today's featured animal is the Red Fox.

Today's Red Fox information is courtesy of One Kind Planet:
https://onekindplanet.org/animal/fox-red/ 

Amazing Facts About the Red Fox

• Foxes belong to the dog family, which includes wolves, coyotes, grey foxes, raccoon dogs and their relatives. All members of this family are incredibly adaptable animals, and this makes them successful colonizers in many areas of the world, practically in all habitats available and often in close proximity to humans.
• Foxes are great night-time predators because their eyes are specially adapted to night vision.  Behind the light sensitive cells lies another layer called the tapetum lucidum which reflects light back through the eye. This doubles the intensity of images received by the fox.  Their eyes glow green when light is shone into them at night.
• A fox’s den is normally a burrow underground, also known as an ‘earth’, but they can also live above ground in a cozy hollow.
• While they are solitary animals, during breeding season (winter) when they court and mate, the dog fox will support the female (vixen) by bringing food for the family (early spring).
• You can often hear the mating calls, which is a sharp, high-pitched shrieking/screaming noise, which can sound quite terrifying.
• Vixens are occasionally assisted in rearing their cubs by a non-breeding sister or a female cub from a previous litter.  These ‘aunts’ gain valuable experience which helps them to rear their own litter successfully the next season.  Occasionally there can be two dog fox’s associated with one vixen.
• The cubs’ eyes and ears open after two weeks and at four weeks they will emerge from their dens.  
• They have short noses which resemble puppies when born.  However, many cubs die prematurely due to other predators (dogs, badgers), but their biggest killer is the motor vehicle.  They also can die of starvation or cold during hard winters.
• Foxes have whiskers on their legs as well as around their faces, which they use to help them find their way
• Foxes live only 18 months to two years in the wild

For more Red Fox information, visit One Kind Planet at the link listed above.

Well, that's it for now.  Be sure to check back here tomorrow for our last post of the month, "Animals in Autumn."

Until tomorrow,

This is your host J,
signing off...