RED FOX
January 2023
My inspiration for the fox was - “What’s a colorful winter animal that I haven’t painted yet?” I was imagining a fox pouncing through the snow to catch their prey. Truthfully, while painting the fox I struggled a bit mentally because I no longer enjoy creating works of cats or dogs. Funny enough, a fox is considered part of the dog family but has more cat characteristics. Why did I put myself through that? I guess I like to suffer, hahaha. It was worth it!
This collection was the first time I painted on plates, which I’m very proud of! Along with the painted mugs and plates, I created many carved and sculpted fox mugs.
The sculpted fox pouncing through the snow hills mug was raffled for a donation to Save A Fox. An organization that works with red foxes, saving them from fur trade and pet surrenders. Together we raised $570 for Save A Fox!
Red fox facts I learned during the creation process-
Red foxes are found throughout much of the northern hemisphere from the Arctic circle to Central America, the steppes of central Asia, and northern Africa.
The European red fox is considered an invasive species.
Even though foxes are part of the dog family they have more in common with cats! Vertical pupils, spines on tongue, and semi-retractable claws.
Foxes use the Earth’s magnetic field to hunt. Scientists, foxes can see the magnetic field as a ring of shadow on its eyes that darkens as it moves closer north, and when the shadow and sound line up, they pounce.
Fox pup don’t open their eyes until 9 days after birth and live with their parents in the den until they’re 7 months old.
Pup play can be very violent. fox start their social hierarchy very young. 1 in 5 pups will not make it out of the den.
A female fox is called a vixen while a male is called a dog. Vixen can give birth to a litter of 1-11 pups.
Red fox gestation period is only 60 days! During this time the vixen will prepare the den while her mate will hunt.
If a fox has extra food, they will hide it to save for later.
Foxes make up to 40 different sounds. Their most notable is their loud shriek which sounds like a child screaming.
If they are not raising their young, foxes are solitary animals living alone.
Foxes are omnivorous. They’ll eat berries, vegetables, and small animals, even rummage through the garbage.