The Hidden World of the Fox

August 12, 2019
Mammal ecologist Brand offers a spirited look at the red fox in this smart and accessible volume. In the introduction, Brand traces a lifelong pursuit which has included writing about foxes in childhood diaries, studying them in college, and, more recently, fostering orphaned cubs and injured adults for the Fox Project charity. Early chapters focus on their distinctive appearance and hugely varied habitats. Noting that foxes can survive across the “full measure of the world’s diverse environments,” Brand recalls seeing them both in India’s Thar Desert, among “a scrubby thicket of what the local people call toothbrush bushes,” and in London, “on a patch of grass under one of Brixton’s tower blocks, half illuminated by streetlight.” Subsequent sections deal with foxes’ “paradoxical” interactions with each other—which reveal them as simultaneously “independent and interdependent”—and with other animals, including rabbits, rodents, and deer. Even a digression on 2014’s viral music video “What Does the Fox Say?” proves fruitful, with Brand discussing the full range of things which foxes do “say.” Thanks to this mix of biology, personal history, and pop culture, Brand’s readers will be left both entertained and better informed about “this small, curious member of the dog family.”

September 1, 2019
A British ecologist explores human encroachment on the world of the fox. Though there's a close connection between dogs and foxes, there is also a world of difference. Dogs and humans have evolved together for 36,000 years, and the household pets are "practically symbiotic with human beings." Foxes remain wild animals, but what was once wilderness has often become a golf course, bringing the animal into contact with humans, which often fear the fox and occasionally try to domesticate it, benefitting neither species. Brand clearly loves foxes and has devoted much of her life to studying them: "They make the world a more mysterious and interesting place." The author casts them in a realistic perspective, as natural creatures, showing that much of what we fear about them--and some of what we find attractive--is the result of misunderstandings. "The fox is not an intruder into our world," she writes. "We have simply laid our modern ambitions over the landscape it already knew." So the fox may attack the bird we have caged, though wild foxes pose little threat to birds in the wild, and they occasionally bite the hand that feeds them when humans mistakenly assume that feeding them might somehow build a relationship. Brand's philosophy comes down to live and let live; we should keep our impact and influence on the fox as light as possible, and the fox in turn will likely have negligible impact on us. "I wish to know them as individuals," she writes, "to learn the stories of their lives as an honest biographer--and to be a mediator, hoping to keep the peace between human and fox." Among the revelations here are that foxes typically weigh less than an average house cat, that they navigate by way of the Earth's magnetic field, and that vixen are only fertile three days per year. A pleasant nature book that provides everything you ever wanted to know about the fox.

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October 1, 2019

Eminent British mammal ecologist Brand pens a tribute to the red fox. Omnivorous red foxes range widely across the northern hemisphere from wilderness habitats to rural areas to the suburbs to the streets of London. Brand weaves her personal experience studying foxes and raising their orphaned young into a lay discussion of their folklore and habits. This well-researched work with an extensive bibliography covers the evolutionary history of red foxes as well as their biology, including physical characteristics, breeding behavior, and vocalizations. Brand shares their hunting techniques and relationships with other animals as both predator and prey, as well as the problems with trying to estimate population sizes and feeding and/or keeping foxes as pets. She debunks their danger to humans except in extremely rare cases and addresses the two main diseases, mange and rabies, foxes may contract. The work is rounded out with ideas for studying foxes using photography, tracking, and keeping a wildlife diary and even provides research topics for students to pursue. VERDICT This beautifully written work paying homage to red foxes will appeal to those interested in urban wildlife and the ever-increasing conflicts between humans and other animals.--Sue O'Brien, Downers Grove, IL

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