Foxes were domesticated by humans in the Bronze Age

[Simo]

I found these stories quite interesting, that I've seen in the past few weeks.

And to think of how hard it is to 'domesticate' the foxes on this forum

www.sciencedaily.com: Foxes were domesticated by humans in the Bronze Age

www.thevintagenews.com: New Evidence Reveals Bronze Age Humans Domesticated Foxes

~

There's that breeding program in Russia (though the limited # of foxes reaching the US cost about $10,000 and require special permits, or are illegal in most states), and there are some other attempts at domestication, or isolated instances of particular foxes being able to be partially domesticated...though it would seem that the vast, overwhelming majority of foxes will not soon be domesticated, and that tying to have them as pets results in having an animal you can only hold and pet while young, and then...well...once mature, one that is quite hyper, wild, marks everything as it's own with urine and feces, and is not much for affection, with a few exceptions.

Though I do wonder if more effort will be put into trying to domesticate foxes, given the cultural fascination people have had with them from ancient times....furry and otherwise : P

 

[JakeTheFoXx]

I will say, I'm quite domesticated. I love sleeping in a bed, I beg for food, and love snuggles. But I'm atypical I've been told

 

[Dragoneer]

Foxes can be domesticated... but they're still pretty wild even so. Turns out you just can't tame cat software on dog hardware.

 

[Fallowfox]

Okay that's interesting, little context is provided for what the foxes' purpose as domesticated animals is here though?

 

[Simo]

Okay that's interesting, little context is provided for what the foxes' purpose as domesticated animals is here though?

True; I'm guessing companionship; perhaps along the lines of a cat. And, like cats, they may have been good at keeping rodents and such away.

I'll try to domesticate you, and we can see what happens :V

 

[quoting_mungo]

Turns out you just can't tame cat software on dog hardware.

Chinese crested dogs would beg to differ.

More seriously, I don't think there's any entirely undomesticatable species with any appreciable intelligence. How much work it'll be to domesticate them will vary, but ultimately if you have the time (talking a significant number of animal generations here, not months or even years, but probably decades at the very least) and resources, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to domesticate pretty much anything.

The Russian experiment was basically a matter of selecting solely for tameness, which greatly expedited the domestication process.

 

[Fallowfox]

True; I'm guessing companionship; perhaps along the lines of a cat. And, like cats, they may have been good at keeping rodents and such away.

I'll try to domesticate you, and we can see what happens :V

This is a good idea given that cereals were found in the settlements.

Perhaps it can be shown that fox domestication declines after the introduction of the North-African domestic cat to Europe.

 

[ZeroVoidTime]

This is a good idea given that cereals were found in the settlements.

Perhaps it can be shown that fox domestication declines after the introduction of the North-African domestic cat to Europe.

(So adorable and so smug.......)

 

[Ravofox]

Chinese crested dogs would beg to differ.

More seriously, I don't think there's any entirely undomesticatable species with any appreciable intelligence. How much work it'll be to domesticate them will vary, but ultimately if you have the time (talking a significant number of animal generations here, not months or even years, but probably decades at the very least) and resources, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to domesticate pretty much anything.

The Russian experiment was basically a matter of selecting solely for tameness, which greatly expedited the domestication process.

I agree. There can't be anything so innately different about foxes to make them undomesticatable. They're not so far off wolves, cats and polecats.

Ooh, it was interesting to read in one of the articles that foxes may have been used to pull sleds. That makes sense, since they have good stamina. Still, crazy like a fox comes to mind, I can see it suddenly zigzagging out of the blue and tipping over everything! Maybe that's why it didn't catch on

 

[modfox]

ewww, we will not end up like dogs we will be wild look at what happend to wolves when humans got to them.....pugs....Chihuahuas... tiny little things with ugly faces... not happening to our glorious species.

 

[Ravofox]

ewww, we will not end up like dogs we will be wild look at what happend to wolves when humans got to them.....pugs....Chihuahuas... tiny little things with ugly faces... not happening to our glorious species.

I'm actually a bit worried they'd look like me (no visible snout and big eyes, lol)

Then again, they could make adorable fennec-looking ones!!!

 

[Fallowfox]

I agree. There can't be anything so innately different about foxes to make them undomesticatable. They're not so far off wolves, cats and polecats.

Ooh, it was interesting to read in one of the articles that foxes may have been used to pull sleds. That makes sense, since they have good stamina. Still, crazy like a fox comes to mind, I can see it suddenly zigzagging out of the blue and tipping over everything! Maybe that's why it didn't catch on

Sometimes animals that appear similar to domestic species prove very difficult to domesticate.

For example, while horses are a domestic staple, efforts to domesticate Zebras have not proven so effective.

 

[Yakamaru]

RIP, RonRon. You will forever be missed.

A little more on-topic:

Domesticated foxes in Russia.