Is this the largest fox ever? That's the claim of The Daily Mail and never mind if it's it's not definitively true.
Without a doubt, it's a BIG fox! In fact, I am willing to readily concede it's the André the Giant of fox!
So how big is this it? All of 26.5 pounds.
Gee.... that doesn't sound quite as big as the picture looks.
No?
Well here's a hint: that child is seven years old.
Now look at the picture carefully -- that fox has been put way up front and the child is well back, while the fox has been stretched out and carefully placed to maximize appearance. This picture was taken by a skilled photographer who knew the "money shot" was in making that fox look like it was as big as an adult Mountain Lion!
Now look at the picture below. This is the same "Andre the Giant" fox with a normal sized 14-pound fox shown in such a way as to make it look a little smaller than it really is, with the back legs angled away and down, and the front legs tucked under. Did I mention this was shot by a skilled photographer? True!
The large fox is still a VERY BIG fox. The "André the Giant" of fox.
But André the Giant was a freak who stood somewhere around 7 feet 3 inches tall (real height, not "show height" with shoes) and weighed somewhere around 500 pounds.
What's the average height of someone in England, the United States, Russia, Bulgaria, China, Wales, Austria, Indonesia, Ghana, or Germany? Not that! Satisfy your curiosity on that score at this link.
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5 comments:
Very interesting! I notice, too, the the "normal" fox's head is not level with Andre's head. Reminds me of the Hogzilla controversy a few years ago, along with every photo of every mammoth fish that has ever been hooked. Too bad the truth isn't good enough for a lot of people, because the truth is pretty impressive!
Seahorse
Kate, the small fox in the picture weighed 14 pounds (see article) which makes it about average, but as I note, the picture makes it look smaller by cutting off the back of the body (the back legs are photographed down), removing from legs entirely (they tucked under) and putting the head at a 3/4 away angle which eliminates the muzzle.
As for fox bitnig people -- VERY unusual, and ** could ** be due to Toxoplasmosis.
See >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2004/08/curiosity-kills-rat.html for more about that disease and how it effects fear in animals. Normally a cat-borne disease, but it IS carried by red fox. See >> http://www.jwildlifedis.org/cgi/reprint/26/2/286.pdf
Of course, a fox biting a small baby in a bassinet might NOT be due to toxi too. Fox are NOT as "logical" as we might hope, as any clean up inside a hen house will support. A fox can have its predator code explode within it from high-pitched noises and jerky movements. A fox cannot control it (it is over-powering), which is why you get so many "surplus killings" with chickens which are the worst for triggers due to their jery movements and clucking (I call them suicide chickens). Could a baby trigger the same code? Sure. Not a likely scenario, but well within the bounds of possible.
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Hi Pat, long time reader here with first post!
I live in a rural location in SW Wales. (UK) I don't know how much you know about average fox sizes in the UK, but out of the several hundred I've seen destroyed by gun/hounds/lurcher/dug & dispatched, I'd say that probably 80% of the adult ones have been bigger in size than the small one in that photo. Fantastic blog BTW!
I would NOT go by the picture, as noted.
If you read the article at the link, that fox was supposed to weigh 14 pounds, which is about average.
For average red fox weights all over (including Wales) see the paper cited at this link >> http://terriermandotcom.blogspot.com/2006/01/fox-size-around-world.html
The average Welsh dog fox weight listed (6401 grams) works out to be 14.12 pounds, while the average Welsh vixen weight given (5540 grams) works out to 12,21 pounds.
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Guess the weight of this one.
Dug it myself and it came out dead to accidental asphyxiation.
Weighed in myself too >> http://www.terrierman.com/bethpipfox.JPG so weight is certian.
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