Customer Reviews

Red fox: The Catlike Canine (Smithsonian Nature Book)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(0)

 

 

Anyone who likes animals will enjoy this book, and I think it is hard to come away from it without an appreciation and affection for the little red fox. Henry describes his scientific research without neglecting his subjective fascination and admiration, qualities which are transmitted easily through the text to the reader. This is one of the two best books on foxes I have ever read (and I've read a lot), and the only one currently in print. Buy it! You won't be sorry.

Very well written, includes lots of interesting information on fox life, behavior, habitat needs etc, excellent resource. Highly recommended and I'd definitely buy it again. Pictures are all black and white unfortunately. I've learned a lot about our fox neighbors. Another book (perhaps even better but at least equal to this one) is Living On the Edge: foxes also by J. David Henry - with great color pictures. We have mostly gray foxes here which is neat since they're native to North America but we also have some red foxes which were introduced to the US from Europe for the dreaded fox hunts. Both are beautiful and these two books give you lots of info on each.

I am convinced that J. David Henry knows more about red foxes than any other human. And if you have an almost religious fascination with foxes, Henry is your prophet. He is obviously charmed by these creatures and is willing to pursue every facet of their behavior to discover the reason for it. This wonderful book is the product of many years of research, from both his own personal field experience and the borrowed experience of other biologists. Fortunately for the reader, Henry is also a gifted storyteller. If his goal was to make red foxes relatable and relevant to our own lives, then he succeeded.

In this revised edition of the book, there are eight pages of color photographs of red foxes. Further, the scientific evidence gathered by the author suggests that red foxes migrated into North America long before Europeans settled it. For more fox facts, read this book.

Interesting and well-written book about the ecology of foxes. Not for those looking for any historical information.

This is an excellent short revision of a Smithsonian publication from ten years hence, which was also highly acclaimed. The text and illustrations are excellent for those intending to understand or study the fox in it's natural environment. While a short 140 pages of text, the book is crammed with exccellent insights and just enough human empathy to explain how the fox conducts it's life.

Unlike most animal books I have read this one is on the top of my list for best information. David goes into great detail about foxes, his experiments to test hypotheses and the complete follow up of results. David is not like most animal researchers in that he tells about his private thoughts and times out in the field, and makes an emphaze on how he wants other researches to test his theories and hypotheses. This book is great and very inspiring to get out, watch wildlife and observe.

All the essentials about the red fox including behavior, adaptation and some wonderful anatomical notes. This is a must have for anyone interested in the intricacies of the life of red foxes. The only thing it lacks is more satisfying aesthetic pictures, but for the information contained inside, it more than makes up for them. Being a serious fox enthusiast, I highly recommend this book.

I'm an animal artist, painting from photographs. There is just not enough information in the beautiful photograph I am using of a young fox to accurately depict its coat color. Information in the book allowed me to figure out how old the fox is (about 2 months) and to validate the confusion I was seeing in the coat color portrayed in the Photo. Grey, dun and red. Changing from dun to gray and beginning to turn red. Amazing!

A great little book if you are interested in foxes. It has given me enough information to write a paragraph about this particular fox, which was photographed by a friend not far from my house.

I'm so pleased I found this book! Ever since I saw a fox carrying a bird in its mouth across my lawn I've wanted to learn more about these elusive animals. The only books I could find in the library were written for children, so they were only about a dozen pages. This book is full of behavioral research and gave me a good insight into a fox's mind. There are also many pictures, a few of them in beautiful color. It does get a little technical at times (especially in a section describing an experiment to learn more about food caching behavior). This is not a field guide (for example, I wouldn't use it to try and identify what kind of fox has claimed my yard as its territory). As the title suggests, it's specific research conducted on the Red Fox and it's for people like me that want to learn as much as possible about a little-understood creature.

If you are interested in foxes, mammals, or just animals in general, you will enjoy this book.

It is both a novel you can read cover to cover, yet still a reference piece. This book is NOT a dry field report, nor is it a dumbed-down piece written for pure entertainment - this is a book to expand your understanding of foxes and animals in general. As others have pointed out, the illustrations and photos are black & white (save some color ones at the front). This does not detract from the book, as they get the job done and you can find thousands of fox pictures online for free.