We met the world’s first domesticated foxes

Should we be domesticating wild animals?

A fox is an animal running cat software on dog hardware..

2100: "How We domesticated a Blue Whale"

Turns out, friendliness is only one measure of if an animal is a good pet. It's the most critical one, but it's not everything. They also need to be easily trained, or at the very least, have non-destructive behaviors. These things have not been bred into these foxes yet.

I've started domesticating crocodiles, the results so far are promising, but It's hard to write it all down with one arm

"They greet, they interact, and then they move on." --Me at parties

You want a dog? You want a cat? Boom you got a fox

The fact that we humans who love petting animals, live in a world full of animals who love getting pet is amazing and tells something about the laws of nature.

Several decades ago I bought a wolf pup from a breeder. I naively expected it to become as domestic as any dog. Well, yes and no, just as this couple with the foxes explained. My wolf bonded with me as her mother. She was loving and very affectionate to my family. She was very playful with a silly doggie-like sense of humor. But she was skittish and frightened of any loud noises. She was destructive, chewing things up, digging hole and even - yes, a cave! - and rearranging the backyard to her liking. She liked other dogs if they were more less her size. But she feared larger dogs, but literally wanted to eat toy breeds (had to be careful when out on the leash) and she killed my beloved cat. It was simply no life for her in suburban backyard. I finally had to make the extremely painful decision to part with my beloved wolf and find her a more appropriate home with a couple who lived in the woods. This was devastating for both me and my wolf, who viewed me as her momma. I am now very critical about people seeking out wild animals as pets. It's not a fair life for them to have to conform to a human world and comes with situations that you're often not prepared to deal with.

We should domesticate bears for the ultimate good boy

Short bursts of affection and then they go do their own thing? Sounds like a cat.

Be mindful if picking one up for yourself. The older ones tend to come pre-assembled, but the newer models are in kit form.

Domesticated foxes before GTA6

Imagine achieving "Elite" level in your friendliness stat

Animals: Exist Humans: It's free real estate.

I had a pet fox back in the 80's. It's Mom wouldn't feed it so I raised on a bottle. His name was Sampson. He was house trained & everything. I loved him 🥺

The JABCECC currently has 14 of the Russian domesticated foxes that people can come and interact with..... We have some that are 11 years old (with no socialization), some 8 years old (with a little bit) and some 3 years old (with a slight amount more) - all behave very differently than our wild or captive bred foxes. The Belyaev foxes seek out human attention (from those they know and those they have never met). They haven't met a person they didn't like and are willing to get scratches and pets from anyone. While they each have different personalities, they all are less afraid of novel environments than their counterparts. They truly are fascinating..... if you are ever in San Diego, look us up and schedule an encounter.

"Elite friendliness levels" Fox:"I'm about to do what's called a pro friend move."

I love how we humans are so fixated on bonding with anything that's cute and fluffy that we obsess over it, collectively, for generations.

I wish some human beings could reach a elite level of friendliness today.