Mammal · Woodland expedition
Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
Uncommon
No wild land carnivore is more widely spread on Earth. The red fox ranges from Arctic tundra to city gardens, and its success is written in its diet: worms, windfall fruit, beetles, voles, and whatever the day provides.
Its winter mousing leap is a small marvel. The fox springs high and dives nose-first through snow onto prey it cannot see, and studies suggest it aligns these jumps with the Earth's magnetic field, striking most truly when facing north-east.
Unusually for a dog, its pupils close to vertical slits like a cat's, tuned for hunting in half-light. The evening hour, when the plates in this collection are best painted, belongs to the fox.
