I've always wanted a pet Fox but was told it was impossible to tame them. My dreams are now reignited.

I just want to cuddle the fox!!!

It actually is possible to breed them tame, but they lose the red coat and their ears go all floppy.

Nice, heart-warming tale.

How does he deal with the reek from that fox? Red Foxes are notoriously stinky. They smell like skunks. You can smell the foxes at the Seattle Zoo from the front gate and they're located in the very back.

That said, automatic up-vote for foxes!

i love this video so much! i want a pet fox too!

maybe a bad idea but i'm putting this is *kids

Adding video to channels (Kids) - requested by bamdrew.

That's the fattest fox I've ever seen. I guess that's what happens when they go all domestic.

I'm sure the fox thinks that life style beats the hell out of the wild living.

I would prefer walking Megan Fox on a leash, but this is OK too...

Oh. It said the fox had toxoplasmosis.

Wikipedia says:

"It has been found that the parasite has the ability to change the behavior of its host: infected rats and mice are less fearful of cats — in fact, some of the infected rats seek out cat-urine-marked areas."

I wonder if that has something to do with the tameness.

>> ^quantumushroom:
I would prefer walking Megan Fox on a leash, but this is OK too...

ooh ooh! I want one of THOSE for a pet!

Dmitri Belyaev bred domestic foxes in the 1950s

the standard pet fox: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennec_Fox

A few interesting bit from http://edition.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/12/cnr.04.html

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Smile at the camera.

VERONICA DE LA CRUZ: He likes to cuddle and to be petted and take long walks into town. Cropper the fox is even popular with the kids. Unusual behavior for a wild animal, but this friendly fox can't survive in the wild on his own. A disease that affected his memory renders him incapable of hunting or defending himself. So Mike Trowler rescued and nursed cropper back to health, making him his pet, a relationship that took time to develop.

MIKE TROWLER, CROPPER'S OWNER: It started as trust and trust grew to familiarity and familiarity to affection. And now I can do virtually anything with him because he knows he's quite confident that whatever I do is going to be for his pleasure or his benefit. And it's wonderful. It's a superb relationship.

DE LA CRUZ: Looking more like a fur stole than a wild animal, Trowler takes cropper for a walk. He says this fox is like any family's dog or cat with one distinct flaw.

TROWLER: Fox urine has an unfortunate property. You can't wash it off. If you apply water to fox urine, the smell becomes a stench. It's a bit like switching on the amplifier at a disco.

DE LA CRUZ: So while cropper gets to run around the house during the day, Trowler says he does spend each night in this hut in a safe room with a view and the envy of all other foxes. Veronica de la Cruz, CNN, Atlanta.

(END OF VIDEOTAPE)

Upvote for the fox living in a chicken coup.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tame_Silver_Fox

"The Tame Silver Fox is the result of nearly 50 years of experiments in the Soviet Union and Russia to domesticate the silver morph of the Red Fox. Notably, the new foxes not only become more tame, but more dog-like as well: they lost their distinctive musky "fox smell", became more friendly with humans, put their ears down (like dogs), wagged their tails when happy and began to vocalize and bark like domesticated dogs. The breeding project was set up by the Soviet scientist Dmitri Belyaev."

Like deedub mentioned. Also, the music is what makes this video precious.

>> ^Pooterius:
That's the fattest fox I've ever seen. I guess that's what happens when they go all domestic.


Aye, you usually expect foxes to be sleek rather than chubby... = )

I have a Fox, but its "fair and balanced" policy of whispering conservative messages mixed with sheer stupidity is making me worry about its mental health, and I may have to put it down.

i was at an animal sanctuary the other day where they have a number of foxes. apparently they turn up in shelters all the time.

Mother has cubs, but when ppl approach she ducks down in the den, leaving cubs behind. folks come along, think cubs are abandonded and "rescue them". Take them home and keep them as pets, until they mature and start scent marking. Then they take them to shelters - because they're now tame they can't be re-released so are "put down".

Apparently 100s are put down every year, perfectly tame, perfectly happy foxes that just smell (a lot).

If you have some outdoors for them to live, "most animal rescue centres would love you to have them" so they don't have to be put down. (was what I was told)

Lucky has a nice post on tame foxes, with some interesting details

Turning Foxes Into House Pets

Cropper looks bored.

My dad had a fox as a pet when he was younger... the vet gave him a dog dose of a vaccine when he should have received a cat-sized dose an it ended up killing him.

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The duration of this video has been updated from unknown to 1:10 - length declared by CrushBug.