Welcome to
The Fox Asylum has been operating in Korabiewice since
2015, providing shelter to 18 foxes and raccoons rescued from
farms where these intelligent animals are often kept in appalling
conditions and killed for their beauty. At the asylum, these
animals can find safety and a peaceful home, where they
receive the respect and care they deserve as living beings.
Many of our animals have spent a significant portion of their lives confined to cages. To provide them with a better life, we have established an asylum that has become their true home.
Many animals recovered by intervention require immediate veterinary attention. We ensure that all of our animals receive the highest level of healthcare.
Foxes are fascinating animals. We are happy to share our knowledge about them.
Fox Asylum
Seven interesting facts
Foxes are a fascinating and intelligent wild species.
The last thing that should happen to them is to be confined to a
cage on a fur farm.
We are delighted to share a few fascinating facts about these
incredible animals.
How many of these did you already know?
Foxes use scent to mark their territory and communicate with
other individuals. This is why the smell of their urine is so
particularly intense, due to the presence of methyl isopentyl
disulphide.
In addition, foxes emit strong odors from their sebaceous and
anal glands. If a fox becomes frightened, its scent can intensify
and become unpleasant. If more people were aware of this, the
popularity of foxes as ‘pets’ would likely plummet to zero.
Foxes are incredibly agile and can jump great distances, squeeze through tight spaces, and make sharp turns with ease.
Their long tails provide excellent balance, while their long legs
relative to their spine give them impressive speed – up to 50
km/h. When trotting, they typically move at a more leisurely
pace of 6–13 km/h.
Foxes have specialized whiskers on their snouts called
vibrissae, which are directly connected to their sensory cortex.
These whiskers aid in hunting, particularly in low–light
conditions, by helping foxes to recognize terrain.
Interestingly, the vibrissae in foxes can move back and forth,
allowing the animals to explore terrain even better.
Proportionally, their vibrissae are longer than in many other
mammals.
The fox’s eyes are well adapted for both day and night hunting.
In bright light, the pupils of a fox’s eyes narrow to a thin vertical
line, much like a cat’s eye. In low light, however, the pupils dilate and become large and round.
Extremely useful for night vision is the reflective membrane,
known as tapetum ludicum, which allows foxes to see twice as
much as animals without this specialized adaptation. It is
through this membrane that when the headlights of a car or a
torch shine into a fox’s eyes at night, they are clearly visible –
they reflect the light.
Foxes have an excellent memory and can remember precisely
where they have hidden their food supplies. If a fox notices
another individual in the vicinity of its cache, it will wait until the
intruder has left, retrieve the food, and then search for a new
hiding spot to ensure that the newcomer doesn’t discover its
treasures by chance.
In areas where foxes and wolves live together, foxes have been
observed following wolves to locate their food caches. As a
result, foxes have a great memory when it comes to their
meals.
Foxes are highly territorial animals. Males can cover
considerable distances, even tens of kilometers, in search of
new territory.
This also helps to avoid the risk of kin mating within fox
communities.
Foxes have a very diverse range of vocalisations, with dozens
of distinct sounds.
Their way of communicating is extremely complex.
Interestingly, individual foxes have different voices
According to Dr. Nick Newton–Fisher, the voice can be a
signature of the individual: it can refer to the size of the animal,
its intentions or its emotional state.
Text: Martyna Kozłowska
Photos: Mikołaj Jastrzębski
Based on the book ‘Foxes Unearthed: A Story of Love and Loathing in Modern Britain’, which we are patrons of.