The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Fox The Pet Tree House - Where Pets Are Family Too : Fox
Showing posts with label Fox. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fox. Show all posts

Wednesday, September 8, 2021

Zao Fox Village, a Sanctuary in Japan Where Foxes Roam Freely


Located near the city Shiroishi in the mountains of Miyagi, Japan, the Zao Fox Village (Zao Kitsune Mura) is a paradise for fox lovers. Open since 1990, the village is a sanctuary for over a hundred animals, including six different breeds of foxes who roam freely.

After paying a small admission fee, visitors can take a tour of a bunny petting zoo, horse stables, and an enclosed area where injured and young foxes are kept for their own safety. The main attraction, however, is the large, open preserve where foxes scamper, play, eat, and sleep. Many of the foxes approach humans with curiosity, eager to be fed or petted, but visitors should be mindful that the adorable creatures are still semi-wild, and so may bite if provoked.

To read more on this story, click here: Zao Fox Village, a Sanctuary in Japan Where Foxes Roam Freely


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Wednesday, August 18, 2021

10+ Photos Of Animals Who Hit The Genetics Jackpot


In the animal kingdom, there are some animals who have features that go far beyond the normal genetic deviation. You can see dogs with two different eye colors or the cats with unique splashes of color that makes them truly stand out from the rest. All of these things are a result of genetic mutations.

Here are 20 animals who hit that genetic jackpot to brighten up your day with their appearances. Although many people think that “mutation” are bad, these gorgeous creatures are here to prove that when it comes to beauty, mutations can actually be a wonderful thing.

To read more on this story, click here: 10+ Photos Of Animals Who Hit The Genetics Jackpot



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Thursday, December 10, 2020

14 Animals That Are Surprisingly Legal To Own As Pets In The US


George Clooney and Miley Cyrus have happily called baby pigs their pets. Tori Spelling famously cares for a chicken named Coco who sleeps in her bed.

But those creatures are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to unusual animals that are legal to privately own in the US.

The laws regarding exotic pet ownership vary by state. Animal rights advocates advise against keeping most wild animals in captivity, but that hasn't stopped exotic pet lovers from legally owning everything from ferrets and foxes to more dangerous beasts like alligators, bears, and tigers.

To read more on this story, click here: 14 Animals That Are Surprisingly Legal To Own As Pets In The US




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Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Can I Have A Pet Fox?


Do a YouTube search for pretty much any smallish animal you can think of and there'll be several videos of a "tame" or "pet" version. Any feline, any canid, any mustelid (weasel), any procyonid (raccoon), any non-bonkers primate (baboons, which are completely terrifying, are exempt). Look at my pet kinkajou, my pet genet, my pet fennec fox, my pet ocelot. And then on the videos of cute furry animals in the wild, you'll see the comments: "omg i want it." When the internet sees a video of a red panda, the internet wants a red panda. Even though a red panda is endangered and a wild animal.

In 1959, a Soviet geneticist named Dmitry K. Belyaev began somewhat secretively experimenting with breeding domesticated foxes. More than five decades, thousands of foxes, and one collapse of the Soviet Union later, the program continues at The Institute of Cytology and Genetics at Novosibirsk, Siberia. Belyaev wanted to unlock the secrets of domestication, the links between behavior and breeding and physical traits, but plenty of non-scientists are aware of the project for a different reason: foxes are adorable, and we want to hug them, and we want them to like it.

But domesticated foxes, which can only be found at that Siberian facility, are not horrible pets. They're a little unconventional, and they require a little bit of extra attention, but if you want a pet fox, you can have a pet fox. All you need is $8,000 and the approval of Kay Fedewa, the exclusive importer of domesticated foxes in the US.

To read more on this story, click here:  Can I Have A Pet Fox?



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Friday, May 12, 2017

Heterochromia is a Genetic Trait That Causes Animals to Have Different Colored Eyes


Given the importance we affix to looking someone (or something) else in the eyes, it's no wonder that heterochromic creatures, or creatures with two different eye colors, are so striking. Though heterochromia is fairly rare in humans, its occurrence is far higher among animals, especially cats. 

Heterochromia is a genetic trait that, depending on the creature it happens in, can be due to inbreeding, genetic inheritance or mutation. In some breeds of cats, like the Turkish Angora, heterochromia is a desirable trait that breeders try to maintain.

One cat in this list – Venus – is heterochromic due to chimerism, a different genetic trait that causes her body to express different pigmentation genes for each half of her body.















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Monday, October 3, 2016

Construction Workers Find a Small Helpless Animal in a Hole: They Thought it Was a Puppy – It Was Something They Didn’t Expect


When construction workers were on the job in Canary Wharf, London, they found something they didn’t expect. Deep in a hole caked in mud and strips of plastic was a small helpless animal.

The workers carefully extracted the animal from the hole, but it was so entrenched in mud and garbage that they could not make out exactly what it was. At first, they guessed it was a puppy, but they soon learned they were wrong. They enlisted the help of a wildlife hospital, and you won’t believe what they found. 

PetsFans.com tells the story: “The story started when, on a normal work day in England, some construction workers had a task to do near an area close to London’s Canary Wharf. While going on with their jobs, a few ground holes were left open. The workers were startled when they heard a faint sound of cries coming from one of the open holes! Imagine how heartbreaking it must have sounded. The workers didn’t waste any time, they rushed to try and locate the animal, without even knowing what they should expect to find, or whether any of them could be in danger.”

The workers contacted specialists from the Essex Wildlife Hospital who worked for hours to carefully clean the animal. After a good bath and lot of special care, the workers were able to properly identify the animal as a four month old baby fox. They named him Muddsey and lauded the construction crew for saving him.

Su Schwar who runs the hospital said, “it would certainly have had a pretty awful death if it hadn’t been found, it was very cold and in shock but is fine now. We felt very sorry for him because he was completely caked and was absolutely petrified.”

Others have applauded the efforts of construction workers as well. One Green Planet wrote, “If rescuers hadn’t found this baby fox trapped in a hole, who knows what could have happened to him? With all that dirt on him and no mother in sight fretting over him, he must have been tough to spot. What a lucky guy! While we’re not sure if he’s old enough to be out and about on his own just yet, he’s in the capable hands of the veterinary staff at the wildlife hospital, who will help him learn to be the best fox he can be before they release him back into the wild.”

Hero Viral wrote, “This 4 month old fox had actually fallen so deep that he couldn’t get out himself. As to why the fox came to the construction site, chances are the construction forced his family to move out of their home. They give the poor fox a bath and now he looks like a proper fox! According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), animals find themselves at threat against various land developments and hence they decide to move out and go somewhere else.”




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Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Fairfax County, Virginia - A Raccoon that Was Discovered Inside a Fairfax County Home Has Tested Positive for Rabies


A raccoon that was discovered inside a Fairfax County, Virginia, home has tested positive for rabies, according to the Fairfax County Police Department.

A release from the public affairs bureau said the victim, a man from Clifton, Virginia, was notified and is receiving medical treatment. The raccoon was one of three reports of wild animals coming in contact with humans in the county this week.

The Clifton man found the raccoon in his home around 11 a.m. on March 3. Police said he fought off the animal and was bitten during the struggle. The man was able to kill the raccoon and transport it to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter.

Earlier in the week, a woman was running on a trail in Great Falls, Virginia, on Wednesday, March 2, around 8 a.m. A fox attacked and bit the woman. She underwent preventative treatment for potential exposure to rabies at the Reston Hospital Center.

On that same day, another woman was checking on her chickens around 9 a.m. in the 9100 block of Potomac Woods Lanes, near Riverbend Park. She confronted and was bitten by a fox. She also sought treatment at the Reston Hospital Center.

The fox has not been captured.

Animal Control would like to remind residents that it is unknown, at present, whether or not the fox is rabid. However, aggressive tendencies, such as those exhibited in these cases, are one of the signs of rabies.

Rabies is a disease caused by a virus that can infect both people and animals. People usually get rabies when they are bitten by an animal that is sick with the disease.

If bitten or scratched by an animal, wash the wound thoroughly with soap and water and seek medical attention right away. In Fairfax County, residents should also immediately report animal bites, as well as sick or injured animals, to Animal Control Services at 703-691-2131, TTY 703-877-3715.

More information on the rabies virus, exposure prevention tips, and what to do if an animal bites, is available: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/hd/rabies/

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Saturday, March 5, 2016

Across the Nation, a Small Army of Animal Dummies Have Been Deployed to Catch People Who Hunt in the Wrong Place


Two men in Maryland recently achieved Internet infamy when they were temporarily banned from hunting after they’d used crossbows to shoot a deer on state land.

Or so they thought.

The men had actually fallen prey to the ruse of a state-owned robotic deer, one of a growing number of remote-controlled decoys being used by American wildlife law enforcement to stop poachers. Across the nation, a small army of deer, elk, bear, turkey, fox and wolf dummies has been deployed to catch people who hunt in the wrong place, in the wrong season or otherwise illegally.

Here’s how it works: Officers truck a robo-animal out into the wild and stage it in an area where they’ve been tipped off about illegal hunting. Then the officers sit out of sight – in a truck, or maybe crouching in bushes – and use a remote to move the animal’s head, tail or legs.

Think you know enough? Skip down to a quiz to find out whether you can spot a robo-animal.

Demand for the decoys is huge, said Jim Reed of the Humane Society Wildlife Land Trust, which donates them to anti-poaching agencies. Game wardens are chronically underfunded, he said, and robo-wildlife is pricey: A deer costs about $2,000; a black bear, up to $5,000. Wardens also are busy – the Humane Society says hunters kill at least as many animals illegally as legally.

The decoys look so alive because, well, they once were, said Brian Wolslegel, owner of the Wisconsin-based Custom Robotic Wildlife. Wolslegel — who does not hunt but instead raises deer in his backyard – makes the dummies out of hides acquired legally from hunters, game wardens or online. (You, too, can purchase a bear hide at taxidermy.net.)

Each year he sells as many as 100 whitetail deer, by far his most popular item. Officers, he said, tell him they make as much as $30,000 in fines off each fake animal.

“To have a poacher, a wild animal and a law enforcement officer at the same scene, it’s like winning the lottery,” he said. And then if the poacher is caught, “the animal already died in the process.”

Robo-wildlife, it turns out, are pretty hard to kill. If a bullet busts the motor, it’s replaceable, Wolslegel said. And most have a Styrofoam core, so a high-powered rifle shot passes through “with minimal damage,” Reed said. In fact, he said, some of the most realistic-looking decoys have been shot 100 times or more.

“The typical deer in the forest is not going to appear well-groomed. It may have a little mud stuck on its back, some hairs ruffled from the wind,” Reed said. The best decoys, he said, “get well-seasoned.”

Think you’re more observant than a poacher? Take this quiz to find out if you can tell a robo-animal from a live animal.
















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Tuesday, February 2, 2016

Fairfax County, Virginia: Animal Control Warning Residents About a Possibly Rabid Fox That Bit a Woman


McLean, Virginia - Animal control officers in Fairfax County are warning residents about a possibly rabid fox that bit a woman Tuesday afternoon in McLean.

According to police, the fox bit and scratched the woman outside her home in the 1400 block of Laburnum Street. Animal control officers could not find the fox when they responded to the woman's home.

The fox is described as a red fox with bloody paws and nose. Police say the fox was last seen on Copely Lane.

Animal control is asking anyone that sees the fox (or any animals with symptoms that could indicate rabies) to call animal control at 703-691-2131.

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Wednesday, December 23, 2015

So You Want a Pet Fox? It Will Cost You Around $8,000


Do a YouTube search for pretty much any smallish animal you can think of and there'll be several videos of a "tame" or "pet" version. Any feline, any canid, any mustelid (weasel), any procyonid (raccoon), any non-bonkers primate (baboons, which are completely terrifying, are exempt). Look at my pet kinkajou, my pet genet, my pet fennec fox, my pet ocelot. And then on the videos of cute furry animals in the wild, you'll see the comments: "omg i want it." When the internet sees a video of a red panda, the internet wants a red panda. Even though a red panda is endangered and a wild animal.

In 1959, a Soviet geneticist named Dmitry K. Belyaev began somewhat secretively experimenting with breeding domesticated foxes. More than five decades, thousands of foxes, and one collapse of the Soviet Union later, the program continues at The Institute of Cytology and Genetics at Novosibirsk, Siberia. Belyaev wanted to unlock the secrets of domestication, the links between behavior and breeding and physical traits, but plenty of non-scientists are aware of the project for a different reason: foxes are adorable, and we want to hug them, and we want them to like it.
  
But domesticated foxes, which can only be found at that Siberian facility, are not horrible pets. They're a little unconventional, and they require a little bit of extra attention, but if you want a pet fox, you can have a pet fox. All you need is $8,000 and the approval of Kay Fedewa, the exclusive importer of domesticated foxes in the US.



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Saturday, February 7, 2015

A Family Rescues What They Think is a Puppy…What Was It?…


When a family in Canada came across what they thought was an abandoned puppy, they brought it to an animal rescue center for help. The newborn "pup" was just one week old.

When wildlife officials tried to find a surrogate mother for the animal, they discovered that it wasn't actually a dog. At first, it was believed that it might be an otter or even a wolverine. Now, since the animal has had more time to develop, officials think it's a fox because of a white tip at the top of its tail, which is an early development pattern of young foxes.

Since the little animal has been fostered by humans, it won't be released into the wild anytime soon, but will instead be raised in a wildlife sanctuary.

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