Table Of ContentF
ox
Martin Wallen
Animal series
Fox
Animal
Serieseditor:JonathanBurt
Alreadypublished
Crow Fly
BoriaSax StevenConnor
Ant Salmon
CharlotteSleigh PeterCoates
Tortoise Cat
PeterYoung KatharineM.Rogers
Cockroach
MarionCopeland Forthcoming...
Dog Crocodile
SusanMcHugh RichardFreeman
Oyster Duck
RebeccaStott VictoriadeRijke
Bear Cow
RobertE.Bieder HannahVelten
Rat Moose
JonathanBurt KevinJackson
Snake Hare
DrakeStutesman SimonCarnell
Parrot Shark
PaulCarter DeanCrawford
Bee Spider
ClairePreston KatjaandSergiuszMichalski
Tiger Pig
SusieGreen BrettMizelle
Whale Worm
JoeRoman DanielBrass
Falcon Penguin
HelenMacdonald StephenMartin
Peacock Rhinoceros
ChristineE.Jackson KellyEnright
Fox
MartinWallen
reaktion books
Publishedby
reaktionbooksltd
33GreatSuttonStreet
Londonec1m3ju,uk
www.reaktionbooks.co.uk
Firstpublished2006
Copyright©MartinWallen2006
Allrightsreserved
Nopartofthispublicationmaybereproduced,storedinaretrieval
systemortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans,electronic,
mechanical,photocopying,recordingorotherwisewithouttheprior
permissionofthepublishers.
PrintedandboundinSingaporebyCSGraphics
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
Wallen,Martin
Fox.–(Animal)
1.Foxes 2.Human-animalrelationships
I.Title
599.7’75
isbn-13:9781861892973
isbn-10:1861892977
Contents
1 TheFoxinNature 7
2 VulpineMyths,FolkTalesandAllegory 39
3 TheLinguisticFox 72
4 Fox-hunting 91
5 TheCommercialFox 121
6 Twentieth-centuryFox:TheCinema 148
Timeline 170
EvolutionCharts 173
GeneraandSpeciesof
FoxWorldwide 174
References 179
Bibliography 189
AssociationsandWebsites 195
Acknowledgements 199
PhotoAcknowledgements 201
Index 203
1 The Fox in Nature
The modern scientific names of the fox – distinguishing 21
speciesand8genera–dependonclassicaltermsthatrefertoit
asincomplete,falseorambiguous–orsimplyabadcreature.
The South American small-eared fox, for example, bears the
GreektagAtelocynusmicrotis,whichtranslatesroughlyas‘incom-
plete dog with small ears’, and the culpeo – whose common
namedenotesitsculpability–wasonceclassifiedinthegenus
Dusicyon,whichmeanssomethinglike‘adogofbadcharacter’,
butisnowsaidtobelongtothegenusPseudalopex,or‘falsefox’.
Theseaspersiveclassificationsarecaused,Ithink,bythefox’s
tendencytodisruptotherwiseneatarrangementsbyitsrefusal
toparticipateinasystematicaccountofnature,butalsobyan
ancienttraditionthatconsidersthefoxawickedcreature.The
foxseemstobeasopenforstudyasanyanimal,butitisnotori-
ousforturningupwhereithadnotbeenexpected–orwhere
it should not be – and for changing its defining qualities to
adaptandtakeadvantageofdifferentsituations.Ascommonas
thefoxisthroughouttheworld,ithasmostlyeludedscientific
certainty,andtheeffortsofnaturaliststoreininthisubiqui-
tous yet elusive creature reveal the biases governing their
attempts to define nature itself, which is equally elusive.
Ultimately,totracethewaysthatnaturalistshavedefinedthe
Redfox(Vulpes
fox over the centuries is to glimpse the principles governing
vulpes).
7
differentdefinitionsofnature.ThefirstWesternertoattempta
systematicaccountofnaturewasAristotle,whoseexplanations
may seem wholly unscientific today, founded as they are on
beliefsthathetookastruthsbutthathavelongbeendiscount-
ed.Nonetheless,hisinfluenceliesinthesystematicapproach
hebroughttoclassifyinganimals.
Aristotlefollowsthreeprinciplestoclassifyanimals:thedif-
ferentsubstancesthatmakeupanalogousbodyparts;thediffer-
entenvironmentsthatanimalsinhabit–land,seaorair–which
corresponddirectlytothesubstancesofwhichtheirbodiesare
made;andthedifferencesintheirdispositionsrevealedthrough
theirinteractionswithotheranimals.AlthoughAristotledoes
notdevotemuchspacetofoxes,hereferstothemsignificantlyin
the explanations of his systematic classification, making them
servetheironicallyexemplaryroleofantipodetohumans.
IntheAristotelianhierarchy,humansareclosesttodivinity,
whichisthepurelifeoflightandair,andwhilehumansdonot
quiteattaindivinepurity,theydopossessafluidwarmth.In
Aristotle’sscheme,thewarmandfluidmaterialsincludeblood,
lard,semenandflesh.Attheoppositeendofthespectrumare
the materials close to the cold, dark and hard earth, such as
sinew, hair, bone, gristle and horn.1 Man possesses the most
complete body because his is the least earthy, including less
bone or horn and more flesh and sensory organs than the
bodiesofotheranimals.Animalslikethefoxthatarecloseto
theeartharelesscomplete,andthereforebony.2
Incomparingbodyparts,Aristotlelaysspecialemphasison
thegenitals,because,inservingthefunctionofgeneration,they
mostcontainthenatureoftheindividual’spoweroflife.Thus
hisalignmentofpenises:‘Themaleorganshowsmuchdiversity.
Insomeitconsistsofgristleandflesh,asinman;andthefleshy
partdoesnotbecomeinflated,whilethegristlypartbecomes
8
Description:Throughout Martin Wallen's book, "Fox," the author demonstrates how the fox has long been viewed by humans as an ambiguous creature living on the boundaries of civilized society. Just as a fox evades capture in the hunting field through its wit and cleverness, the fox also escapes simple definition.
