Animals - News & General

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5633805/Abandoned-baby-fox-Phoebe-best-friends-orphaned-two-BADGERS-Whitby-animal-sanctuary.html  Quoting:

It looks like a scene from a Disney film – only this time it is real – and it is adorable.

A blossoming friendship between Phoebe, an abandoned baby fox cub, and two orphaned badgers has astounded animal lovers after an animal sanctuary in Whitby put the unlikely new family together. Staff were stumped when they were brought a tiny two-month-old fox cub to take care of, but unusually, they had no other foxes to place her with. The sanctuary was not keen to have Phoebe rely on humans for food and support so staff came up with a radical idea - to see if she could form a friendship with two orphaned badgers.



. . . The tiny fox and the badgers were separately taken to Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary in North Yorkshire where staff decided to place all three together.

Badgers and foxes avoid each other in the wild, but the trio of two-month-old cubs, have found solace in one another's company. Under the watchful eye of chief executive Alexandra Farmer they are thriving. She said: 'Foxes and badgers would never mix in the wild, in fact they tend to keep out of each other's way. But these three were wild animals without their mothers, all of a similar size and we thought we could place them together as long as we kept a close eye on them. We have been delighted to see they have bonded extremely well, it's been lovely to see them feeding, sleeping and even playing together.'

It certainly does look adorable, but if I were Mr. Fox ,I would be wary of being attacked!
It is an unnatural relationship for a fox and a badger to be "friends "
I suppose so long as Both animals are well fed and under a watchful eye, their natural instinct can be suppressed.

Sary wrote:It certainly does look adorable, but if I were Mr. Fox, I would be wary of being attacked!
It is an unnatural relationship for a fox and a badger to be "friends "

I don't know if their early bonding would last into adulthood. Maybe it would though.

I found this cool fox photo earlier on:

I must admit, I came back for the baby animals.

It's easier for animal cubs to make "friends" and form bonds with animals in captivity. As they get older, their instincts may kick in and they may change. This is especially true for solitary animals. Although sometimes, those bonds can last until adulthood, but they may not be able to make any new friends.

I had this very thing happen with my pet ferrets years ago. Ferrets come from animals that were solitary, but domestication has changed that, so that they are more kit-like and social even as adults. But that's not always the case, and you will have some ferrets who are very territorial and don't adjust to newcomers after they reach about a year or so.

Neon Knight wrote:

Sary wrote:It certainly does look adorable, but if I were Mr. Fox, I would be wary of being attacked!
It is an unnatural relationship for a fox and a badger to be "friends "

I don't know if their early bonding would last into adulthood. Maybe it would though.

I found this cool fox photo earlier on:

Fox are beautiful and mysterious creatures. First time I saw one, I was surprised how little they are, like a medium dog.
Recently I have seen fox and wolves during the same day, and the fox is so tiny compared to wolf. But on ur pictures he look big, how much a fox could be big ?

Aëlwenn wrote:Fox are beautiful and mysterious creatures. First time I saw one, I was surprised how little they are, like a medium dog. Recently I have seen fox and wolves during the same day, and the fox is so tiny compared to wolf. But on ur pictures he look big, how much a fox could be big?

According to Wikipedia: "The largest red fox on record in Great Britain was a 17.2 kg (38 lb), 1.4-metre (4 ft 7 in) long male, killed in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, in early 2012."

OsricPearl wrote:I must admit, I came back for the baby animals.

It's easier for animal cubs to make "friends" and form bonds with animals in captivity. As they get older, their instincts may kick in and they may change. This is especially true for solitary animals. Although sometimes, those bonds can last until adulthood, but they may not be able to make any new friends.

I had this very thing happen with my pet ferrets years ago. Ferrets come from animals that were solitary, but domestication has changed that, so that they are more kit-like and social even as adults. But that's not always the case, and you will have some ferrets who are very territorial and don't adjust to newcomers after they reach about a year or so.

A close cousin of the ferret (I assume it is, anyway):

Could foxes become the must-have pets of the future?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6031521/Foxes-pet-trend-scientists-discover-one-genes-involved-aggression.html Quoting:

* A 60-year long study bred three groups of foxes - normal, tame and aggressive
* A version of the SorCS1 gene in tame foxes is not present in violent animals
* 103 genomic regions found in the foxes are also known to be related to human behavioural conditions such as autism

Foxes could become the must have pets of the future, after scientists successfully isolated a slice of their genetic code linked to tameness and aggression - dubbed SorCS1.

The study focused on the red fox, which have been reared by humans for over a century, and found 103 genomic regions involved in fox behaviour. Experts say that understanding the link between genetics and behaviour could help shed light on social behaviour in other animals - including people. These genetic markers are also associated with human behavioural conditions such as autism and bipolar disorder.

Red foxes have been bred in some parts of the world but - unlike their dog cousins - captive foxes generally exhibit fear or aggression toward humans.

A 60-year study conducted by the Russian Institute of Cytology and Genetics has experimented with domesticating foxes and established a tame and an aggressive breed. One of the animal groups is eager for human interaction, while the other population has a tendency to behave violently toward humans. A third population of foxes acted as a control and was not selected for any particular behaviour.

Another fox: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6076617/Adorable-moment-fox-gets-photographers-lens.html Quoting:

Wildlife photography normally involves the animal being in front of the camera and the photographer behind it. This fox, however, had other ideas. Balancing a careful paw on the tripod, it appeared to look through the viewfinder. The animal is a frequent visitor to the garden of wildlife photographer Gledrius Stakauskas in Orpington, South-East London.



The 42-year-old has even found himself on the other end of the lens as the inquisitive animal investigated his camera. Mr Stakauskas, who calls the fox Paw because of a white mark on one paw, said he had been photographing him for a couple of years. 'Paw became so relaxed he even used to fall asleep in front of the camera,' he said.



The photographer, who is originally from Lithuania, also explained how the fox was very cautious at first. He said: ‘Our story with the foxes started when we moved to the suburb of London. We noticed that foxes were visiting our back garden in the late afternoon and we decided to try our luck to photograph them. To do so we had to use camouflage netting and clothes. Even then foxes were very cautious and most of the time used to run away from any slightest movement. Except one which was rather brave and curious. He didn’t seem bothered too much by our presence and gave the impression that he enjoys our company.'

Mr Stakauskas said the fox would sleep under a bush or sniff the flowers as he worked in the garden. ‘Quite often when we used to work in the garden he was somewhere around, sleeping under a bush or sniffing the flowers. We have been photographing this fox for couple of years. During this time, we have achieved mutual understanding and trust.

. . . ‘The feeling that the animal trusts you is very special.’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6106077/Waterloo-Road-actress-captures-moment-photobombing-seagull-grabs-flake-ice-cream.html

"A BBC actress has captured the moment a photobombing seagull stole her 99 ice-cream flake. Waterloo Road star Kirstie Steele, 27, was enjoying an ice cream near Brighton beach when the dive-bombing bird swooped."

It kinda looks like the bird was being lured in with the ice cream, camera ready to take a photo.
I hope the woman let the bird have the entire treat and not just the "flake"

Yesterday I snapped a picture, with my phone , of three little fawn. I was walking on a wooded path , the surrounding area is quite urban.
They were adorable and let me get quite close before they ran off.

A couple of weeks ago there was a 300+ pound black bear in my back yard ....I did not get the same warm fuzzy feeling when I saw him!

In my region wild animals are adapting to living side by side with humans.
Their populations seems to be increasing and they are getting bold.
Not so sure that is a good thing.

Sary wrote:Yesterday I snapped a picture, with my phone , of three little fawn.  I was walking on a wooded path , the surrounding area is quite urban.
They were adorable and let me get quite close before they ran off.

A couple of weeks ago there  was a 300+ pound black bear in my back yard ....I did not get the same warm fuzzy feeling when I saw him!

In my region  wild animals are adapting to living side by side with humans.
Their populations seems to be increasing and they are getting bold.
Not so sure that is a good thing.

I hope you can post the photo of the fawns for us. I'd be thrilled to see a bear in the wild, but probably not in the back garden - I'd wonder how the hell it had got there!

Neon Knight wrote:

Sary wrote:Yesterday I snapped a picture, with my phone , of three little fawn.  I was walking on a wooded path , the surrounding area is quite urban.
They were adorable and let me get quite close before they ran off.

A couple of weeks ago there  was a 300+ pound black bear in my back yard ....I did not get the same warm fuzzy feeling when I saw him!

In my region  wild animals are adapting to living side by side with humans.
Their populations seems to be increasing and they are getting bold.
Not so sure that is a good thing.

I hope you can post the photo of the fawns for us. I'd be thrilled to see a bear in the wild, but probably not in the back garden - I'd wonder where how the hell it had got there!

I saw these babies right outside of Philadelphia.


The bears that live in my area are becoming more and more of a problem. It is not unusual to see them, especially in the late spring/early summer. Every year their numbers increase. They like it here.
There is now talk of legalizing bear hunting.
It is sad.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6187089/Meet-pet-whippet-best-friends-MAGPIE.html Quoting:

Mike and Boo do everything together, from going on walks to sharing food and even a bed. Not so unusual, you might think. Until you learn that Mike is a magpie and Boo is a whippet. The unlikely bond between bird and dog blossomed four months ago after a distressed Mike was found floundering on his own at about two weeks old. Boo’s owner Steve Rostron was out on an evening walk in Sabden, Lancashire, when the inquisitive dog sniffed out Mike behind a telephone junction box.

Mr Rostron, 44, an artist, believed Mike may have fallen out of his nest from a tree above. Worried that he might not survive, he and five-year-old Boo took the bird home and, along with Mr Rostron’s partner Janine MacLean, nursed Mike back to health. However, when it came to letting Mike back into the wild, he refused to go – preferring to stay with Boo instead. Mike and Boo’s friendship has gone from strength to strength, with the pair enjoying nestling up on the sofa to watch television together. During daily walks for Boo, Mike often joins in, flying ahead and waiting for Boo to catch up. The friendly bird even refuses to sleep in his cage and prefers to sleep in Boo’s basket.



The wild magpie has proved himself to be quite the showman, capturing the hearts of locals when he goes out for his solo travels by stealing sips out of their pints and flying into shops. Miss MacLean said: ‘He is such a social little man, he is drawn to anywhere with a crowd. He goes to the park on Boo’s back to see the kids. Everyone in the village knows and adores him. ‘We have bought him a cage but he tends to prefer to sleep with Boo and through the day he is always free to go out and do what he wants. He is a little superstar and his relationship with Boo is just magical. I couldn’t imagine our lives without him.’

It's a fox again, but not as we know it:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6371581/Not-fantastic-SILVER-fox-Rare-grey-predator-skulking-suburban-garden.html Quoting:

* Shadow the silver fox has been rescued after being spotted in a Cheshire garden
* The predator was thought to be a bad omen by superstitious medieval people
* Silver foxes are rare and Shadow is the first seen by this RSPCA home in 25 years
* Shadow is in good health and his owners are trying to be found by the RSPCA

A rare silver fox spotted in a Cheshire garden has been safely rescued by the RSPCA. The impressive grey predator was spotted roaming around a suburban garden and startled the unsuspecting homeowner. A temporary home has been found for the animal, nicknamed 'Shadow', and they claim he is the only silver fox they've seen in 25 years. According to medieval folklore, the monochrome animal is a harbinger of doom to all who see it. The RSPCA says the unique animal is in good health and they are now trying to reunite him with his owners.



The terrifying-looking animal has been given the apt moniker by his captors following a successful and peaceful capture. They claim Shadow is in good health, just slightly overweight. A former RSPCA inspector lived close to the initial sighting and safely caught the animal using specialist equipment. He was then taken to the charity's Stapeley Grange Wildlife Centre in nearby Nantwich.

. . . The fox is not fitted with a microchip and was given the name Shadow on account of his jet black fur accented with striking silver.

Lee Stewart, manager of Stapeley Grange, said: 'It is likely that Shadow has been kept as a pet and he has either escaped, in which case we need to find his owners, or he has been dumped by his owners. He was checked over by our team of vets and was found to be in good health, just a little overweight. He is eating fine and seems to be doing well. He is the first silver fox we have ever had here at Stapeley Grange, in nearly 25 years we have been open. He is an impressive-looking animal and it has been interesting to us all to have such a rare admission.'

If no owner can be traced, Shadow will be looked to be rehomed with a specialist owner, the RSPCA has said.

Silver foxes are the same species as the red foxes we have living wild in the UK but with different colouration. [They] are bred for their fur but are now sometimes kept as 'pets'.

. . . Even the most experienced fox experts have had difficulty keeping domesticated animals successfully. The RSPCA does not advise or condone keeping foxes as pets.