Red Fox: The Catlike Canine by J. David Henry
There are times when someone’s passion for a particular topic can actually be more interesting than the thing they are talking about. This is definitely the case when reading Dr J David Henry’s book, Red Fox: The Catlike Canine.
From the early 1970s to the mid 1980s, boreal ecologist Dr Henry spent 14 years researching rural red foxes in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada. This book recounts his incredibly in-depth experiments, which could be a bit of a tough read if they were relayed purely in scientific language.
Fortunately for the reader however, Henry injects some much-needed humility, good nature and humour into proceedings, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining and action-packed 8 chapters. When you read the lengths Dr Henry went to in order to get his results (e.g. watching foxes bury food over 500 times), you’ll realise that he needed every inch of his good humour to get through some very trying times.
Originally, Dr Henry was at Prince Albert National Park to work on a black bear management project, but became so captivated by the foxes, that he decided to research them instead, forming the basis of a PhD. His passion for the foxes is clear, as evidenced in the names he gives to the foxes he observes.
‘Rose’ is described as doing something the author had never seen a fox do. Pretending to sleep while waiting outside a mouse hole, suddenly springing into life after lulling the mouse into a false sense of security.
‘My Friend’ was a male fox that Henry spent time running after in the forest. He said it actually took him about a month before he was physically fit enough to keep up. Due to the lack of human contact in the forest, the fox was perfectly happy to be followed without being alarmed.
Another nice human touch is Henry’s description of laying out red fox and coyote bones on his kitchen table trying to work out bone densities. He describes the tedious process as ‘corporal punishment’ with his (very understanding) wife laughing at him cursing in frustration!
Putting the entertaining qualities of the book to one side, J David Henry does come up with some very useful findings as a result of his painstaking research.
His observation that foxes are very ‘catlike’, despite being part of the Canid family is particularly interesting and not something I’d considered before reading his book. The retractable claws, vertical slit pupils, tapetum lacidum (shiny ‘cats eye’) and sharp canines are just some of the physical attributes shared with cats.
When hunting, foxes also exhibit very feline characteristics. Foxes like to stealthily creep up quietly on their prey, belly down just like cats. They’ll also opt for a one bite kill as cats do, rather than the shaking technique usually employed by dogs.
The cat comparison really helps to explain why foxes are such successful hunters and able to adapt to virtually any environment they find themselves in.
Overall this is a fascinating study of rural foxes, carried out by a humane and intelligent man who is unswervingly passionate about his subject.
Dr J David Henry successfully walks the line between scientific and entertaining and this book is definitely recommended for anyone who wants to learn more about foxes.
It’s also a great look behind the curtain to see the amount of hard work that goes into studying nature, as well as the immense satisfaction you get from doing it.
My advice is: go out and waste a lot of time carefully observing your animals. You may be surprised at the insights you discover. You may be surprised at the undiscovered richness of wildlife societies. Simply observing wildlife in it’s natural habitat can [help with] the understanding, interpretation, and conservation of wildlife, the animals with whom we share this planet.
Dr J. David Henry – Red Fox: The Catlike Canine
