Fox Facts

Foxes are my special interest, let me share the information I know!

[fox-thursday]

Hello!

You can call me Skulk. My pronouns are they/them.

Foxes are one of my special interests that I engage with the most, so I know quite a bit!

Please check out @fox-fact-friday they also share a bunch of cool fox facts!!

Account run by @pagan-skulk @skulks-shenanigans @skulk-of-foxes @skulks-aac

My favourite fox (the Corsac fox, Vulpes corsac) is pictured in my profile picture, I got the image from iNaturalist, the person who took it is alexeiebel.

I will try to post regularly on Thursday at 14:00/2:00 pm CST. (Please keep in mind I am time blind and utilise scheduled posts and am also disabled, please be patient if I skip a post, I do this because it makes m happy)

If you follow me, and your account makes me feel unsafe, you will be blocked. If you are a Trump supporter you will get an immediate block.

Tags

#not my post - this is a post that is still informational but isn't my post!

#my post - this is a post that is mine!

#vulpes - this is a post on a fox from the Vulpes genus!

#urocyon - this is a post on a fox from the Urocyon genus!

#otocyon - this is a post on a fox from the Otocyon genus!

#lycalopex - this is a post on a fox from the Lycalopex genus!

#cerdocyon - this is a post on a fox from the Cerdocyon genus!

#unrelated-to-foxes - this is a post that is unrelated to foxes, it may be informational but is likely to include hotlines and warmlines due to recent events

Profile picture ID: a light tan/grey fox pup

Banner: the disability pride flag

[fox-thursday]

Mange is very easy to treat in foxes.

The best way to start to help a mangy fox is to reach out to a wildlife rehaber.

Check out Arctic Fox Daily for more info!!

FAQ | Arctic Fox Daily

FAQ | Arctic Fox Daily

[fox-thursday]

SURPRISE POST

I will unreliably be returning to posting in February until we can actually get me into rehab, then go on break again. Unfortunately our plan to immediately get me into rehab did not go to plan.

Although they are very small, Fennec foxes can jump two feet in the air (vertically) and can leap across distances (horizontally) of four feet.

Fennec Fox

The fennec fox is the smallest of all the world's foxes, weighing only 2.2 pounds (1 kilogram). It has enormous ears, measuring 6 inches (15

ID: a small tan fox the colour of sand with large ears stands in sand and looks at the camera, it is a Fennec Fox

[fox-thursday]

Going on a hiatus until February. I currently have lost the ability to walk and will be going to a rehab to try to relearn how to.

Fox fact of Sunday

Foxes use the earths magnetic field as a targeting system, this ties into why they pounce.

Foxes use the Earth’s magnetic field as a targeting system

It’s winter on a British meadow, and a red fox is on the prowl. The snow-covered ground masks the sight of its prey but the fox can still he

[fox-fact-friday]

In Finnish mythology, the Aurora Borealis -- the Northern Lights -- are the result of a celestial fox running through the night sky!

[fox-thursday]

Image Description: A night sky with Aurora Borealis depicted as multiple foxes running through the sky

Adding onto this because I was actually going to make a post about this.

This is referred to as Firefox (not the browser).

Revontulet, the Finnish word for the Northern Lights translates to "fox fires". This is because the Northern Lights is part of this story!! Legend says that a person who captures the firefox would become extremely rich and famous.

"As it runs along the fells, the fox’s flaming tail whips crystals of snow into the sky and the fur scratches the trees, setting the skies on fire. There is a small element of truth in this explanation as fur can be charged with static energy, producing sparks. Indigenous Canadians had similar ideas about the fur of their reindeer.

Another explanation for the Finnish name, revontulet, is the word “repo”, used by the migrant Forest Finns, meaning a spell. Thus, the auroras were spellfires, caused by forces of darkness and light waging war in the sky."

Source https://www.lapland.fi/visit/only-in-lapland/lapland-northern-lights-myths-auroras/

[fox-thursday]

Foxes have been tricked into vaccinating themselves for rabies in the past!!!

Source

[fox-thursday]

One way you can tell the difference between the skeletons of a male fox and a male dog is reproductive anatomy!!

Foxes have something called a baculum, it's basically just a penis bone. However, domestic dogs don't have this!!

ID: a hand holding multiple bones from the top one being the largest and the bottom one being the smallest, all of them are baculums in the order of raccoon (it's curved at the end), otter, badger, coyote, red fox, mink, beaver, short tailed weasel they are all shaped slightly different with coyote and red fox being the straightest.

Credit

[fox-thursday]

IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!

Red fox kits stay with their parents for around seven months.

Source

[fox-fact-friday]

In some parts of Greek mythology, the Teumessian Fox was a giant fox that was destined to never be caught.

Eventually, the fox caused so much trouble that it had to be stopped -- and so they called for Laelaps, the great hunting dog destined to always catch its prey, to capture it.

Faced with a paradox -- how does that which is destined to always catch its prey catch what is destined to never be caught -- Zeus cast both Laelaps and the Teumessian Fox into the night sky, as Canis Major and Canis Minor.

[fox-fact-friday]

Today is a hard day for a lot of us. The future is... uncertain, and that's putting it very mildly.

So today, a few extra fox facts that have absolutely nothing to do with our current political climate in the US.

Foxes are extremely adaptable. The red fox, alone, thrives on five of the seven continents, with only South America and Antarctica having no red foxes. Foxes have found ways to thrive damn near everywhere.

Foxes in and around cities look and act different from their more rural counterparts. They are able to do what they need to do to thrive in their environment, and adapt quickly.

Even climate change doesn't threaten red foxes the way it threatens so many other species. They've successfully moved north and done quite well for themselves.

A lot of the animals included in Vulpes and Urocyon don't look anything like our usual conception of foxes. Because they've become their own wonderful, beautiful, unique things in their own environments.

The Tibetan Fox adapted to the steppes. The Corsac Fox adapted to the mountains. The Fennec Fox adapted to the deserts. The Arctic Fox adapted to the tundra. The Kit Fox adapted to the American Southwest. The Swift Fox adapted to the grasslands of the Western US. Red Foxes adapted to bigger changes than this.

They'll adapt. They'll be okay. I promise.

We'll adapt. We'll be okay. I promise.

We can be bold and brave, we can be known as tricksters throughout the world and through history, we can adapt and become truly ungovernable.

Be just a little more foxy today.

[irrealisms]

hey where’s that post about how it’s important to be aware before recommending/calling suicide hotlines that They Will Call The Cops On You. i have it saved somewhere but i can’t find it & i want to reblog it today For No Particular Reason

[irrealisms]

note that Trans Lifeline doesn’t call the police on actively suicidal people so if you’re trans that can be a good resource! and if you’re Catholic, priests aren’t allowed to break the seal of the confessional for any reason, and things said in confession are exempt from all mandated reporting in most U.S. states (and in the ones where they aren’t exempt, they’re mandated reporters of child abuse but not of suicidality AFAICT—still, worth checking your state laws in more detail first, I don’t know the details for every state). you can also go to confession as a non-Catholic but idk how they’d handle that, I never went before converting

if you’re not trans or Catholic you might be out of luck—most mainstream suicide hotlines (including the Trevor project) allow calling the cops on you if you’re actively suicidal (although the line for when they do this varies from organization to organization and volunteer to volunteer— it’s overall fairly unlikely ime but it’s a risk). followers feel free to add Suicidality Resources That Won’t Call The Cops No Matter What if you have any

also i’m aware this is very America-centric (<- American who mostly knows American resources and laws, writing this bc of the flood of posts aimed at Americans in crisis due to the American election) but if anyone has details on how non-American suicide hotlines work or the level of risk of cop involvement or forced institutionalization for various crisis options in other countries feel free to add that as well

[irrealisms]

and I haven’t looked into it much but one of my uk followers says samaritans might be good for the UK!

[identityarchitect]

[ID: An infographic titled "Warm lines that don't call the police:

Call Blackline: 800-604-5841 Centres BI&POC, LGBTQ+ Black Femme Lens

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860 (US), 877-330-6366 (Canada) Run by and for trans people

Wildflower Alliance Peer Support Line: 888-407-4515 Trained peer supporters

StrongHearts Native Helpline: 844-762-8483 Centreing Native Americans & Alaska Natives

Thrive Lifeline: 313-662-8209 Trans-led and operated

LGBT National Help Centre: 888-843-4564

More resources: InclusiveTherapists.com/crisis" /end ID]

[fox-thursday]

Some foxes can run up to 42 mph!!!!

Edit: I did some fact checking because I just stumbled across this when looking up foxes and the source for this is reference 15 on this page (linked below), on behaviour and ecology, it is unfortunately behind a paywall though but since some people are seeing this I just wanted to double check.

Source

[irrevocablecondition]

💙 USA 💙

national suicide prevention

national domestic violence hotline

national sexual abuse hotline

trans lifeline and resources

💙INTERNATIONAL💙

list of suicide hotlines by country

domestic violence hotlines and resources by country

sexual (+ domestic) abuse agencies by country

international trans resources

[fox-thursday]

HAPPY HALLOWEN TO THOSE WHO CELEBRATE (I don't really)

People have worked on domesticating foxes, however this doesn't mean they act like dogs or that they make good pets. Please do not get a fox as a pet.

[fox-thursday]

Foxes are generally smaller than other members of the (wild) canid family.

[fox-thursday]

Sorry for no post last week!!!

Today's fun fact:

Grey foxes are the only canid in North America capable of climbing trees. This is because of their semi-retractable claws!!!

IMO (not a fact) they're basically just a cat in a canid's body /silly

Gray Fox

Information and facts about gray fox from Squam Lakes Natural Science Center.

[fox-thursday]

no post today, sorry