Fox colors. The most beautiful fox species in the world Spotted fox

Photographs of foxes taken in their natural habitat and short descriptions of the species will give you an idea of these colorful furry wild animals.

Photo by: Roselyn Raymond

Photo by: Kai Fagerstrom

Photo by: Wenda Atkin

The red fox is the most widespread, therefore the most diverse species of all foxes. They can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia. These agile hunters are known to be able to jump over two meters high fences. (Photo by: Roselyn Raymond)

marble fox

Photo by: unknown

The Arctic marbled fox is a subspecies of the red fox. She does not occur in nature with this color, people raised her for the sake of fur. (Photo by Ewald Mario)

Gray fox or tree fox

Photo credit: Variegated Vibes

The gray fox is common in North America. It is distinguished by pale gray fur with a black tail tip. This fox is one of the few canids that can climb trees. (Photo credit: John Payne)

Black-brown fox or silver fox

Photo by: Shelley Evans

This is another type of fox with a beautiful color from completely black with a white tail tip to gray with a blue or brown tint. The silver fox is known as one of the most valuable fur-bearing animals. They are still bred and raised for their fur. (Photo credit: Matt Knot)

Photo by: Daniel Parent

Silver black

Two breeds are known in foxes, which determine the color of Silver-black and Black-brown foxes. The first arose among wild foxes in Canada, the second - among foxes in Eurasia and Alaska. For this reason, Silver Foxes are often referred to as Alaskan Silver Blacks in foreign literature.

Shades of Silvery Black Fox are classified as "very light", "medium light", "light", "medium", "medium dark", "dark", "very dark". However, no matter how dark or light the color is, most often the ears, tail, muzzle, abdomen and paws will always be pure black.

Depending on the area of the body occupied by silvery hair, the percentage of silveriness is determined: silverness located from the root of the tail to the ears is taken as 100% (ears, paws, abdomen, tail and muzzle are usually completely black); for 75% - from the root of the tail to the shoulder blades; for 50% - from the root of the tail to half of the body. The body area occupied by silveriness can be any (10%, 30%, 80%), but always starts at the root of the tail.

Hair, in which only the top is dyed, is called platinum (in contrast to silver, in which their central part is dyed). The presence of a large amount of platinum hair in the pubescence of foxes is undesirable. They, to a greater extent than silver ones, are prone to breakage of the rod, which leads to the development of a defect in pubescence - cross-section. The black ends of the hair form a veil over the silvery zone.

As we have already found out, there are 5 types of "silver": Standard (AA bb), Non-standard / Sub-standard (Aa bb), Alaskan (aa BB), Sub-Alaskan (aa Bb), Double silver (aa bb). What is the difference?
Standard Silver black was bred in Canada and later, in the course of selection, more silver was grafted into it. The Standard Silver is smaller than the Alaskan, the fur is more silky, the black color is rich and uniform.
Sub Standard Silver Black. Metis Standard Silver Black and Alaskan. Outwardly, it almost does not differ from the Standard.
double silver- mestizo of Standard and Sub-standard Silver.
Alaskan Silver-black. Prior to breeding work, Alaskanskaya Serebristaya was distinguished by a more faded, brownish tint of black. Today, it is almost impossible to distinguish the Standard Silver from the Alaskan, although it is believed that the Alaskan Silver still has some tints of brown, which makes the Standard Silver-black much more attractive in terms of fur quality.
Sub-Alaskan Silver Black- mixed Alaskan Silver with Double Silver. The quality of the fur is more similar to the Alaskan Silver-black.
Black. Pure black foxes are uncommon and are more preferred rather silvery black with more "silver". Its quantity depends only on the influence of the genes responsible for it.

When crossing Silver-black or Black-brown foxes with red ones, the inheritance of color is intermediate - the offspring differs in appearance from both parents. But the coloring can vary significantly: sivodushki (krestovki), bastards and "zamarayki" can be obtained.

SIVADUSHKA (KRESTOVKA)
Sivadushki are characterized by a significantly greater development of black pigment than red foxes. They have a dark muzzle, with the exception of rufous spots near the ears; a dark stripe runs between the ears and descends to the back and shoulder blades. Red spots remain around the ears, on the neck, behind the shoulder blades, as a result of which a more or less pronounced dark cross forms on the shoulders. Black coloration sometimes passes to the abdomen. On the rump, the dark color descends to the hind legs, but the areas at the root of the tail remain rufous. Chest, belly, legs dark. All, even very dark, Sivadushki have red hair on their backs in addition to black, which distinguishes them from Black-brown with a highly developed red spotting.

ORDINARY KRESTOVKA
Color category - natural color
Responsible Factor: Silver Black + Red / Silver Black + Silver Black with Fire Gene / Red + Red with Silver Gene (or any other combination with AaBb gene)
Nose black/dark brown. The eyes are yellow, hazel, brown or red (orange). Shade can be lighter/darker. The red/brown patches can be intense or rather faded.
The color is used to breed other colors, as it contains both the red and silver gene.

SMOKY (BASTARD)
Bastards are similar in color to the Red Foxes, but always have black spots on both sides of the upper lip ("whiskers"). The black coloration on the paws is much more developed and extends on the front paws to the elbow, and on the hind paws - along the front surface of the leg to the knee joint. A significant amount of black hair is scattered over the entire surface of the body and especially on the tail, which gives the coloration a denser tone. Abdomen gray or black. The eyes can be any color except blue and pink.
Color category - natural color. The responsible factor is: Red with the Silver gene (Basta "rd). (It is believed that this is a mestizo of the Red and Silver-black fox, but this has not been proven. So it is the Red with the Silver gene). Morphology (General): reach 20 kg. , length about 125 cm, height at the withers about 40 cm. Tail up to 70% of the total body length.
Wild foxes that live in Europe, namely in its Western European part, are predominantly of this color.

At birth, Sivadushki and Bastards have the same color: they are dark gray, like puppies of black foxes, and have only small brown areas near the ears and on the body behind the front paws. In red foxes, puppies are also gray, but the brown coloring captures the entire upper part of the head. Subsequently, in bastards, earlier than in sivodushki, gray hair is replaced by red. In red fox puppies, the change from gray to red hair is most intense.

"ZAMARAYKA"
The term Kamchatka hunters. Widespread in Kamchatka, in areas where Black-brown foxes are found. "Zamarayki" have a great resemblance to bastards.

All listed varieties are very similar and at birth it is almost impossible to determine what color an adult fox will be. This becomes clear when the fox sheds its baby fluff and begins to grow up.

Ksenia Mishukova from Nizhny Novgorod keeps a very unusual animal at home - a white fox of the original color arctic marble. We learned about the pet when a worried owner was looking for help on social networks - a young fox ran away from home. Fortunately, literally 10 minutes before our call, the lost man himself returned home. But we couldn’t help but show readers what a cute animal it is!

The name brought luck to the fox

It is a great happiness that the fox himself returned home by smell, usually foxes do not return, - said Ksenia. - He is still young, silly, he is only eight months old. Yesterday, during a walk, he slipped into a gap under the fence. Someone (or maybe he himself) pushed back the partition that closed the gap. I've been looking for him all night. After all, there are so many dogs in the area, and not all people treat my pet well. A neighbor, when I asked her if she had seen Lucky, almost went out into the yard with a gun. He says that he is wild, rabid.

Ksenia with her beloved pet

In fact, the fox was bred in captivity. The hostess made the baby all the vaccinations, he has a veterinary passport.

So the baby came to the hostess

Lucky (from English luck - “luck”) has been lucky since birth. It was bred for fur at a fur coat factory in Belarus. But Ksenia changed his fate.

Lucky knows how charming he is

I just somehow really wanted to have such a fox. I saw it and bought it. It is necessary to do at least one good deed in life, - the girl says embarrassedly.

Lucky is confused with a dog

Such a fox costs 15 thousand rubles. And, of course, always attracts the attention of passers-by.

Lucky can dance with his ear

People think it's a dog until they see the tail, the hostess smiles. - He is very kind, reaching out to people. He also has dog habits - he waves his tail, rejoices at a meeting and licks his hands. Gets along with our cat.

Lucky has all vaccinations and a veterinary passport

They eat high quality dog food or natural food - meat, vegetables, fruits, cereals.

White domestic foxes come in different colors - arctic marble, red marble, snow and white marble (pure white wool). Arctic marbled foxes have a predominantly white coat with a black pattern on the forehead, often resembling a crown or mask. The contours of the ears and eyes are summed up with black "eyeliner". There is a black stripe on the back, it goes down from the shoulders to the end of the back, sometimes reaching the tail. This is described on the website for the sale of foxes. Bandwidth may vary. Their nose can only be black, and their eyes can be brown, orange, or yellow. Marbled foxes are known as "Arctic marbled foxes" (not to be confused with arctic foxes - Vulpes lagopus (Arctic fox)).

Foxes are very interesting animals, which you probably don't know much about. After all, a red fox is the only thing that comes to mind when you hear the word "fox". In fact, this is a very diverse and adaptive genus of animals, all of whose representatives are perfectly adapted to living in the environment where they are. And, believe me, there are a lot of foxes all over the world and not all of them are red!

1. Fenech

These foxes live in North Africa and the Sahara desert. They are distinguished by their huge ears, which serve to dissipate heat from their bodies. With such ears, they have such good hearing that they can hear their prey moving under the sand. Their cream fur helps them radiate heat during the day and keep them warm at night.

2. Red fox

The red fox is the largest, most common and, as a result, the most diverse species of fox. They can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and even in Australia. They are very agile hunters and have been known to easily jump over 2m fences.

3. Arctic marbled fox

The "Arctic marbled fox" is a subspecies of the red fox, and its coloration cannot be considered natural, since these animals were bred by people for luxurious furs.

4. Gray fox

The gray fox, which lives in North America, has a delightful salt and pepper color on its back and a tail with a black stripe. This fox is one of the few canines that can climb trees.

5. Silver fox

The silver fox also belongs to the red fox species, differing only in the pigmentation variant. In addition, this fox is one of the most valuable species of furry foxes. They are still bred and bred for their magnificent fur.

6. Polar fox or arctic fox

We know that most people love foxes, but how not to love these beauties in fluffy fur coats? Therefore, we decided that it would be interesting for you to learn about some of the most beautiful and colorful species of these forest animals. Common or red fox (Vulpes vulpes), that usually comes to mind when you hear the word "fox" and it makes sense, because this type of fox is the most common in the world and can be found anywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. If you love foxes and think they look way better in the wild than on someone's neck, then you'll definitely want to see the 7 most beautiful fox species in their natural element!

Fennec Fox

Fennec foxes, living in North Africa and the Sahara desert, are distinguished by their large ears, which serve not only to enable the animal to hunt better, but also to better cool the body in the heat of the day. Also, their cream fur helps them not to attract the scorching sun during the day and keep warm at night.

Red fox (Red Fox)

The red fox is the largest, most widely distributed and, as a result, the most diverse species of all foxes. They can be found throughout the Northern Hemisphere and in Australia. These foxes are very agile hunters and can even jump over a two-meter fence.

Marble Fox

The Arctic marbled fox is also a member of the red fox species, the color of which is not found in the wild - its color was bred artificially for the sake of fur.

Gray fox (Gray Fox)

The gray fox, which lives in North America, is distinguished by its salt and pepper coat, black tail tip, and red muzzle.This fox is one of the few canines that can climb trees.

Black and brown fox (Silver Fox)

The black-brown fox is actually the same species of red fox, differing only in a different pigmentation. There was a time when the black fox was considered one of the most valuable fur foxes that could be found. People still breed and raise them for their fur.

Arctic fox (Arctic Fox)

Arctic fox can be found throughout the Arctic Circle. Its thick fur protects the animal from colossally low temperatures (-70 degrees Celsius). These foxes have relatively short legs and muzzle, which allows them to keep warm.

Cross Fox

Another type of red fox, which is the most common in North America.