17 September: National Fox Day

As today is National Fox Day, here are 10 things you might not know about foxes:

1. Foxes belong to the Canidae family, which means they are related to Wolves, jackals, and Dogs. That said, they have a number of characteristics that make them more like Cats than dogs. They tend to be solitary hunters rather than hunting in packs, and they stalk and pounce on their prey like cats do. Their eyes have vertical pupils like those of a cat, and there are species of fox which can climb trees and retract their claws.
2. The word fox comes from the Proto-Indo-European word for thick fur or a bushy tail. The scientific name for a fox is Vulpes vulpes.
3. A male fox is called a dog fox, tod or reynard and a female is called a vixen. Their babies are called pups, kits or cubs and a group of foxes is called a skulk or leash.
4. A fox uses its tail (or brush) for balance, to wrap itself in when it gets cold (which in the case of an Arctic fox, isn’t until the temperature drops to −70 °C /−94 °F) and as a means of communication with other foxes.
5. They have a unique way of tracking their prey. Like many animals, foxes have a “magnetic sense” which means they can detect the magnetic field of the Earth. They are the only animals that use this sense for hunting. If they’re hunting Mice under deep Snow, their success rate for diving in and catching one is much higher if they happen to be facing north.
6. Foxes are omnivorous and will eat just about anything, including berries, worms, Spiders, mice and birds. Urban foxes will eat food humans have thrown away, as well. When a fox has more food than it needs, it will stash it in a hole somewhere to eat later.
7. A vixen will produce one litter of cubs a year, on average, six to a litter. For the first nine days the cubs are blind. The vixen stays with them while the dog fox goes out to hunt for food for his family. Vixens are good mothers. According to one story, a fox cub rescued from a trap by the RSPCA had survived in the trap for two weeks, because its mother brought it food every day.
8. They love to play and have been known to like playing with balls. They will steal balls from golf courses and gardens, just to play with.
9. Before even dogs were domesticated, humans may have had pet foxes. A 16,500-year-old grave in Jordan was found to contain the remains of a man and his fox.
10. In folklore, the fox is usually portrayed as a sly, cunning trickster. Asian cultures tell stories of foxes with nine tails while in Finland they once believed the Northern Lights were made by foxes running through the snow and spreading sparks with their tails. This is where the term “fox fires” comes from. Incidentally, a “firefox” is nothing to do with foxes at all – it’s a Red Panda.

Killing Me Softly

Sebastian Garrett is an assassin. It wasn’t his first choice of vocation, but nonetheless, he’s good at it, and can be relied upon to get the job done. He’s on top of his game.

Until he is contracted to kill Princess Helena of Galorvia. She is not just any princess. Sebastian doesn’t bargain on his intended victim being a super-heroine who gives as good as she gets. Only his own genetic variant power saves him from becoming the victim, instead of Helena. 

Fate has another surprise in store. Sebastian was not expecting to fall in love with her.

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