On November 1 Fox Day is celebrated. Initially, this day was associated in Western Europe with the beginning of the fox hunting season, which is clearly different from hunting all other species. Due to its cruelty and specificity, the fox population has decreased in Europe, and hunting of these animals has been banned in many European countries (for example, in England, a ban was introduced in 2004).
The modern Fox Holiday was founded to raise awareness of the consequences of human activities, as well as to preserve the diversity of the animal world.
In response to questions about the most popular animal, many people mention a fox. Indeed, foxes are the obligatory heroes of all fairy tales about animals. They are always the most cunning and clever. Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) are easily adapted to living in a variety of landscapes, including in the immediate vicinity of human settlements. A predator who wins not so much by force as by intelligence and cunning can deceive not only prey but also man. No wonder they say "cunning as a fox." Foxes were both the personification of evil spirits and a symbol of fire, purification. The Slavs had a special attitude to the fox as a totem animal, the incarnation of the goddess Makoshi. Foxes were admired for their beauty and ingenuity, despite the fact that red beasts never missed an opportunity to climb into the chicken coop.
Mykolaiv Zoo keeps these nice and popular animals. Practically all foxes living in Mykolaiv Zoo were brought by "compassionate" visitors. Finding fox cubs in the wild, people consider them "orphans" and rush to "save" them, not even guessing that anxious but very careful fox parents can watch human actions from the thick bushes…
For many years, foxes in the zoo, including those "saved" by our "good" citizens, lived in a cramped enclosure with a concrete floor and tiled walls. No grass, no bush, no soil where you can have fun. It has long been planned to build a new enclosure for foxes. And finally, in 2018, due to a joint project of Mykolaiv Zoo and Mykolaiv Alumina Plant, a spacious enclosure was built, which is divided into two parts with natural vegetation and with soil where foxes have a place to run and dig.
Today, the oldest fox, Fleyta, born in 2013, lives in one part of the enclosure. She was found by inhabitants of Mykolaiv city, she was running on the streets and people brought her to the zoo on October 1, 2014. People said that she escaped from the circus, which came on tour to the city. Nobody was looking for the fox, so the residents of the city decided to catch it and bring it to the zoo. In the same enclosure with her settled a young fox named Fox, which was also brought by residents on 16.05.2020.
In the other part of the enclosure live 6 foxes, but visitors do not see all of them, because they hide in burrows, so they show their natural instincts. Three of them were brought by residents of Mykolaiv city - a male Yevsey and two females Berta and Busya. Here live the children of Yevsey and Berta, who were born in the zoo on April 19, 2018 - a male Son and two females Iskra and Norka. Visitors can always see Yevsey and Busya on exhibit. And all the other inhabitants come out of their burrows closer to evening. These are the incredible life stories of our foxes.
Dear visitors, we invite you to visit Mykolaiv Zoo where you will be able to get acquainted closer with heroes of all fairy tales about animals - foxes.