Foxes

[crazyjoe123]

Interesting stuff. There is a fox which seems to be based in the woodland beside my house. I see him/her each morning when Im in the shower. During the summer I used to sit in my car at dusk watching it hunt rabbits. Its a lot bigger now than in Aug so its obvioulsy a 2011 birth. Its moved on (less successfully) to pheasants as rabbits have decreased but Im getting great pleasure from watching a wild canid from my house, especially in the UK. I never used to appreciate foxes but having spent most of my career in Africa some of the behaviour is so jackal like and also in some regards, hyena like I am ashamed I used to take them for granted

[Billabong Karen]

Originally Posted by crazyjoe123

Interesting stuff. There is a fox which seems to be based in the woodland beside my house. I see him/her each morning when Im in the shower. During the summer I used to sit in my car at dusk watching it hunt rabbits. Its a lot bigger now than in Aug so its obvioulsy a 2011 birth. Its moved on (less successfully) to pheasants as rabbits have decreased but Im getting great pleasure from watching a wild canid from my house, especially in the UK. I never used to appreciate foxes but having spent most of my career in Africa some of the behaviour is so jackal like and also in some regards, hyena like I am ashamed I used to take them for granted

How interesting - do tell in what respects foxes act like jackals, and especially how they act like hyaenas!

[crazyjoe123]

Originally Posted by Billabong Karen

How interesting - do tell in what respects foxes act like jackals, and especially how they act like hyaenas!

When watching the fox trot in amongst groups of pheasants sniffing looking busy and seemingly ignoring the pheasants which are also interestingly ignoring the fox until the fox manage to get close enough then has a cheeky go. Exactly the same as hyena wandering opportunistically through an antelope herd, although these are generally more coordinated with other clan members (in spotted hyenas) but in brown hyenas which are solitary foragers this is exactly what we see (most of their food items are scavenged or fruit).
The jackal comparisons are perhaps less surprising as they are obviously both canids and also exhibit similar social systems (are also of a similar size) although foxes are more active predators due to the lack of large carnivores to scavenge from. Very dofferent behaviour from cats for example (depsite hyends are more closely related to the felids than canids). Could perhaps be an adaptation to their niche as hyenids evolved in Africa & Eurasia filling the niches the canids filled while evolving in North America until the canids spread and largely out competed the hyenids.