I am not sure how unusual this might be.?
My best guess would be to wonder if this fox was possibly the result of a mixed breeding between a fox and a coyote?
(although, it certainly looks all fox)
If not, it sure makes a compelling story for survival of the fittest! Hefty little bugger! LOL!
tracey holden Webboard User Reg: 07-17-2010
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My first thought was could it be a hybrid, maybe with a feral dog, I don't think we have coyotes in the UK though, but it certainly is unusually big for a fox!
We have a lot of urban foxes that can get a bit porky because people feed them scraps, but this was a rural area, but yes, he is, or rather, was, a big boy!
Kiersten Lippman Webboard User Reg: 09-28-2009
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Could simply be survival of the fittest. If large size is favored for survival, foxes that genetically are of larger size will have better reproductive success and so on. Great Britain has no more larger predators left? No wolf or bear, correct? Perhaps foxes are filling that niche. Coyotes (possibly mixed with eastern wolf) are much large on the US Eastern coast than out west. Could be a similar genetic drift process.
I don't think foxes and coyotes or foxes and dogs can interbreed. Dogs or coyotes belong to the genus canis, foxes belong to the genus vulpus.
I suppose anything is possible, tigers and lions can interbreed, after all- but it's unlikely due to different number of chromosomes, behavioral dissimilarities, limited fertility for female foxes and mate guarding by male foxes, etc.
There is genetic variability in all species, but genus canis and possibly vulpes are exceptionally diverse in their range of genetic expression.
Connie Sutherland Moderator Reg: 07-13-2005
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"I don't think foxes and coyotes or foxes and dogs can interbreed. Dogs or coyotes belong to the genus canis, foxes belong to the genus vulpus. .... There is genetic variability in all species, but genus canis and possibly vulpes are exceptionally diverse in their range of genetic expression."
I agree.
There are a couple of animals with fox in the name that are not "true" foxes (Arctic and Red, I believe; perhaps others), so maybe that's a possibility.
Anne Jones Webboard User Reg: 04-29-2004
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Also killed vaccines...don't they incubate some vaccines in ferret tissue? Can't remember exactly...it's been 25 years since I had a ferret & had to be up on all that info.
The headline says 38 lb but the photo says 26 lb.
When I belonged to a group of folks that hunted with terriers many of them had the opportunity to do earth work in England. The average dog fox over there is almost 20 lb compared to 8-11 lbs over here.
26lb may be a record but not in the same sense that it would be over here in the States.
Being the largest predator in GB it wouldn't seem impossible that they are larger there.
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