Well now... The new neighbors have a tame silver fox leashed to the clothes line pole. I never knew there were tame ones. My uncle raised all kinds of them, but they weren't tame to handle and they smelt musky when in heat. Well I did a search in Google and found an entry in the Wikipedia. Here's the article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tame_Silver_Fox
Read some of the articles at the bottom of the link to. Silver foxes are very pretty animals. There was a big silver fox farming movement in Salisbury in the early 1900's. I wouldn't want to wear one, just have a tame one. ;D
that's cool, i often wonder how many people were eaten trying to domesticate dogs.
I don't care how docile it is. That fox is still a wild animal and, like habituated bears, might be a handful.
I see they have a dog house for him, but he never goes in it. I always see him curled up in the grass, even in the cold rain. Poor little fox. :'(
Canines are social animals. you don't find many that do well alone. They are always happier with company. What I don't understand is someone having one as a "pet", whether it be a fox, wolf or dog, and tying it up in the back yard (even on a run) to be by itself. What a lonely existence.
My image of a happy dog is one that lives with another dog in the family. Barring that, one that lives with a human child who will run and play with it all hours of the day. But, tying one up is like tying up your kid to a post in the backyard.
They do have a 6 or 8 kids and another dog, but I'm not sure about how much attention the little fox gets. It is a cold rainy day today, and I don't like seeing him out in it. He looks cold all curled up in a ball. Be interesting how the fox does this winter. ::)
SD
Another indication this is a wild animal and seems a bit cruel that it is tied up.
Some people like something "nobody else has got! Because, just because" ;D
Reminds me of a song, but don't remember which one. :) :)
I agree with Tom .....to a certain extent. ::)
Quote from: Tom on October 02, 2006, 12:29:03 PM
Canines are social animals. you don't find many that do well alone. ...... My image of a happy dog is one that lives with another dog in the family.
My little critters go crazy if I leave them alone for a few hours, I come through the door and you'd think I'd rubbed myself with raw meat the way they fuss over me.
Quote from: Tom on October 02, 2006, 12:29:03 PM
But, tying one up is like tying up your kid to a post in the backyard.
Dat's da part I'm not so sure about, I think I know that kid, little bugger just lives down the road a piece. :D :D
Somebody needs to cut him loose
Wild animals are meant to be in the wild. They will find that out one day when that ol' fox clamps down on one of them
50 years of selective breeding can do a lot to a species. it could be tame, i dunno. that article is interesting in how the skulls changed.
i don't care to see a dog chained up to a post for it's life either.
I have seen some little kids that need to be tied to a pole.....maybe the parents too???? OR instead ;) :D
Yep, but usually the kid. There are a lot of kids that made good in this world and turned out be humanitarians even with bad parents. But, it takes having a good kid to be a good parent. A kid that is determined to be antagonistic, anti-establishment, misbehave, be mean and conniving and manipulative will not have a good parent, regardless of how good the parent is. The public's judgement will be negative. It's never the kid's fault.
I've seen alot of dogs turn mean when left tied up all the time dragging on an old chain. But, if the dog is going to be left outside unattended it needs to be tied or taken inside a shed or pen. I don't like dogs running loose because they tend to leave the property and run with other dogs that may not be tended. The little fox gets realy submissive around the dog they have, doesn't seem to me snarly or anything. Of course I'm not going up to it with a piece of pork in my fingers. ;D It's colors are a bit different than in the photo on the web. This one is all grey, no white breast patches. Of course our breaders, mainly in Salisbury, bread them for that color. There is a thread in the forum with a little history on them. I like little foxes in the wild best of all though. I see all kinds of red foxes, but never with a camera in my hand. ;D Seen one just today jump'n and going it looking for mice inside a cloverleaf circle on the highway. :) 8) At times they are scared to death of ya and other times they come right up close to ya. Just say scat and clap your hands and they're off like a shot. :D
That is wrong, If someone needs to keep an animal, for what ever reason, they should give it a good life.( If you aint gonna eat it, love it.) Do the best they can to duplicate it's natural life style. We have a house dog that is spoiled rotton. I couldn't imagine putting him outside on a chain. By the way, is keeping a Fox Legal :-\
Haven't seen the fox for a couple days, maybe it got away. ::)
I live in a small town on the Pa Oh border. On the Ohio side in an area of about 5 miles from my house someone has a wolf someone else has cougars and about 3 different people have deer. I can understand having deer but why would anyone want a wolf or cougars. Then there was Mike tyson with his tigers not to far away also but him and his tigers are gone now.
Well, the little fox got out onto the road last fall and was killed. I don't understand how because we have very low traffic.
But anyway....
I wish I had a camera this morning. Was sitting on a woods road and around the yard were rabbits going back and forth. Then next comes a fox out of the woods on the path of a rabbit and he was going crazy trying to hunt one down. When he'd leave the road and go into the bush the rabbits would hop out onto the road and hide around the pulp piles and bush. He'd come back out on the hunt following a scent and loose the trail in the brush, then back into the woods. I was sure he'd get one, but it was fun to watch him. I was hoping he'd catch some, the woods are full of them and I see new babies everywhere. One of the guys on another site picked one up (baby) by the ears and he was just a squeel'n. Some of those rabbits were as big as small dogs, 3 leaps and they were onto the road, middle of the road and back into the bush and we are talking about a 70 foot right of way.
Rabbits, meaning snow shoe hares. ;)
The main reason silverfox farms became popular in the early 1900's is because a #1 grade fur was worth.....get this.....$1000. Yes that's $1000 each.
There is a Native family here that earned the surname silverfox because they traped over 300 in three years. They are still one of the best trapping families up here.
I haven't heard silver foxes mentioned for years. Back when I was a young teen I saw what I swore was a silver fox. I looked them up in an encyclopedia. I still think that was a silver fox.
Jeff