black fox.

dicky82

took this picture today. . . . :rolleyes::D:D
nah im joking,
just wondering have any of the foxy men ever seen any here on our fair isleand?

homerhop

Seemingly there is or was one up in my friends uncles place in Moone. His uncle said it was around the farm yard a good bit and we got stern instructions to leave it alone if out lamping if we wanted to continue shooting on his place and adjoining farms

Tackleberrywho

homerhop wrote: »

Seemingly there is or was one up in my friends uncles place in Moone. His uncle said it was around the farm yard a good bit and we got stern instructions to leave it alone if out lamping if we wanted to continue shooting on his place and adjoining farms

I saw one about 16 years ago, not as black as that, but he was mostly black with a red underbelly.

shaft666

Saw one about 18 years ago in North Cork, very black took off running as soon as we got the lamp on it. Have shot quite a few with more black hair than normal in the same area since so maybe offsprings? 2 Friends saw one last winter in the same spot, said it was jet black, fellow with the rifle was just about to shoot it when his mate turned the lamp off, thought it was a black dog!
Would love to shoot one but expect it would result in an expensive trip to the taxidermist :eek:

Eddie B

Havn't heard of a black fox in Ireland but my Father caught a white one years ago in a snare!
I caught this lad about 20 years ago!
mink1 024.jpg mink1 023.jpg

Now im nearly as gray as he is!:D

It,s a lot more common to find colour variations in mink than foxes!
Saying that, this is the only one i've trapped, and i've trapped a hell of a lot of mink!

jwshooter

we were lamping 20 years ago , on the call a animal started to come in ,my mate gave a squek to say ones up .

i was shooting a .22 mag .we uesd a lite that gave 150yds of shooting range and 300 on eyes .
the animal came into shooting range ,i thing i had a redfirld 3-9 on the rifle at the time .

to this day im sure it was a black fox ,i did not shoot as i was not sure .

elius

Have one up stair's thats been turned into a stole it was my granny's used as a scarf me thinks. Very like the one above white spot on the end of the tail. Grandad killed it about 40-50 yrs ago.
Pics

tfox

Have seen a couple of black foxes around me last ten years. Never within range though :mad:

One walked out of a hedge in front of me as big as an alsation, came steadily toward me and turned back into the hedge bout 10yds from me !! Unfortunately I was out with the spaniel doing a bit of training and unarmed !!

They have been seen about a lot over the years round us !! Few claimed they were panthers though

bazza888

I heard lads used to farm black foxes,they could have escaped and bred,the taxidermist i was in had one mounted said a lad had it in a freezer after the fur farm was closed didnt say how old it was,it was really nice looking.

jwshooter

tfox wrote: »

Have seen a couple of black foxes around me last ten years. Never within range though :mad:

One walked out of a hedge in front of me as big as an alsation, came steadily toward me and turned back into the hedge bout 10yds from me !! Unfortunately I was out with the spaniel doing a bit of training and unarmed !!

They have been seen about a lot over the years round us !! Few claimed they were panthers though

thats big . we should have bigger guns

Esel

My uncle had a sheepdog, which had an odd smell. All the other dogs in the village would bark and snarl at him if he approached them. While walking the fields one day, I saw him cavorting with a vixen! That's how I learned the smell of a fox.

jwshooter

esel wrote: »

My uncle had a sheepdog, which had an odd smell. All the other dogs in the village would bark and snarl at him if he approached them. While walking the fields one day, I saw him cavorting with a vixen! That's how I learned the smell of a fox.

the slut

Tackleberrywho

Dog-fox hybrids

There are no reliable reports or genetic testing that proves the existence of dog-fox hybrids (called dox) although there are many unsubstantiated reports of such hybrids.
An unconfirmed female terrier/fox hybrid was reported, and later euthanized (killed), in the UK. British gamekeeper folklore claims that terrier bitches can produce offspring with male foxes. Other dog breeds claimed to have hybridized with foxes are the Alaskan Malamute, Sheltie, Siberian husky, and most of the hound groups. The supposed hybrids (known as a dox) are likely to be natural variation in the domestic dog.
There has been a reported cross between a domestic dog and a South American Maned Wolf, but the Maned Wolf is only a fox like canid not closely related to other canids and is the only member of the genus Chrysocyon.
In Saskatchewan, Canada there was another supposed dox, this time a female miniature Sheltie with a wild fox. There was a litter of three, but only one survived. The surviving (a female) was barren, and looked like an almost pure fox, with slight variations. However, the variability of dogs in appearance makes it impossible to determine whether an animal is hybrid based on looks. In most reported cases the dox had gold or yellow eyes, wired hair, and with black red and gray hairs covering most of the body.

4gun

esel wrote: »

My uncle had a sheepdog, which had an odd smell. All the other dogs in the village would bark and snarl at him if he approached them. While walking the fields one day, I saw him cavorting with a vixen! That's how I learned the smell of a fox.

are they compatible to cross??

Tackleberrywho

4gun wrote: »

are they compatible to cross??

I always was under the opinion no.

Wolves are closer to dogs than foxes AFAIK

Evolutionary chain etc spit much longer ago than dogs and wolves

But as I read that as a book from the lib as a child that may be open to correction

landkeeper

fox -vulpes vulpes
dog -canis familiaris
different genus, wolves will cross with domestic dogs but not foxes afaik

4gun

landkeeper wrote: »

fox -vulpes vulpes
dog -canis familiaris
different genus, wolves will cross with domestic dogs but not foxes afaik

all domestic dogs are bred from the wolf, according to some sources...just thousands of years of selective breeding has given rise to as many different breeds of dog.

J.R.

Game keeper in England shot one - was in the Shooting times a while back.

shaft666

Despite many tales of crosses it's been well proven that they can't cross breed, dogs have 78 chromosones, foxes only 38 making it impossible.
However its easy to see why people believe it possible with some of the dogs around, we have the collie/alsation cross below who is banned from going out at night in case he gets mistaken for a fox and shot!

Tackleberrywho

shaft666 wrote: »

Despite many tales of crosses it's been well proven that they can't cross breed, dogs have 78 chromosones, foxes only 38 making it impossible.
However its easy to see why people believe it possible with some of the dogs around, we have the collie/alsation cross below who is banned from going out at night in case he gets mistaken for a fox and shot!

Thats mad, reminds me of a dog we once had, like a miniature sheep dog, it was a stray so we do not know the lineage

It's a long time ago since I read the non breeding compatibility craic.

AFAIK
There evolution path changed many thousands of years ago from wolves or the predecessor to wolves

The domesticated dog diverged most recently from the gray wolf.

The coyote also diverged from the gray wolf, but at an earlier time than the dog.

The maned wolf is actually evolutionarily closer to two foxes than to other wolves.

The blue backed jackal is more closely related to wolves and to dogs than to foxes.

The Arctic fox is related to the Cape fox, but has an even closer relationship to another species of fox.

shaft666

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

Thats mad, reminds me of a dog we once had, like a miniature sheep dog, it was a stray so we do not know the lineage

It's a long time ago since I read the non breeding compatibility craic.

AFAIK
There evolution path changed many thousands of years ago from wolves or the predecessor to wolves

The domesticated dog diverged most recently from the gray wolf.

The coyote also diverged from the gray wolf, but at an earlier time than the dog.

The maned wolf is actually evolutionarily closer to two foxes than to other wolves.

The blue backed jackal is more closely related to wolves and to dogs than to foxes.

The Arctic fox is related to the Cape fox, but has an even closer relationship to another species of fox.

You should see him running through a field at night with a filter on the lamp, he even runs with his head down like a fox, I often said I'd definately shoot him if I saw him!

Tackleberrywho

shaft666 wrote: »

You should see him running through a field at night with a filter on the lamp, he even runs with his head down like a fox, I often said I'd definately shoot him if I saw him!

I remember going to cemetery days in cold November and my Aunt wearing a fox coat, I think it was fake though!

The Mother still has a black and white rabbit coat "pony fur" i think she calls it!

The main difference between dogs and foxes I THINK is Foxes have fur, and dogs have hair

Under a lamp that is hard to prove though!

Eddie B

Tackleberrywho wrote: »

I remember going to cemetery days in cold November and my Aunt wearing a fox coat, I think it was fake though!

The Mother still has a black and white rabbit coat "pony fur" i think she calls it!

The main difference between dogs and foxes I THINK is Foxes have fur, and dogs have hair

Under a lamp that is hard to prove though!

Whats the difference between fur and hair?

Eddie B

Think this little cub has a touch of the mange!
black-fox-460_980894c.jpg

shaft666

Eddie B wrote: »

Whats the difference between fur and hair?

I just googled that and apparently nothing different so I no longer have a head with no hair growing on it just a head with no fur!

landkeeper

tac yer mams coat should be 'cony' fur not pony

Tackleberrywho

landkeeper wrote: »

tac yer mams coat should be 'cony' fur not pony

A yeah, so Do you wear your cony coat often?

Very rolling Stones :D

treborflynn

that is savage, do you know where it was shot?