Why foxes love January

The tears children spill over a snowless early spring are drowned by the howls of joy of foxes in my communal garden and in the neighbourhood, probably in most British neighbourhoods.

To a fox, this is the one time of the year, the only time of the calendar, when Mrs

Fox won't have a headache, and doesn't reach for the bedlamp switch, and is, well, receptive, happily so.

January for the fox population is the month of bliss. Let it snow, let it rain, bring on the winter frosts, but January is the foxy Love Month.

Sadly for the lovelorn male fox, it certainly doesn't cover the month's 31 days. For him and for her, the annual love-in lasts no more than three days.

A guessing game

The days are not marked in some foxy diary. She makes it a guessing game, which in all probability she knows little about until it happens.

Of course, she - and Mr Fox, too - could look at the excellent National Fox Welfare Society's website and understand the magic better. 'Since it’s the breeding season, the dog fox will shadow the every move of the vixen.'

When it's time to dismount, he may not be able to ... and there they stand, back to back, for the duration of the tie, possible for hours.

The challenge for their pursuit of Cupid's magic, is that the lusty young maiden is only 'available', willing, pregantable, for about three days.

A three-day honeymoon

Unlike humans perhaps, the vixen will only oblige when the ovules are in position and ready. The honeymoon won't last longer than those three days.

Come January, the gentleman fox doesn't let impatient or a huff or two dog his waiting time. And he certainly keeps her constant company.
Continues on the blogs for my ocean adventuring book, Sailing to Purgatory, at

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