World Animals
European Animals
Fox
Animal Kingdom: Hound, Mammal
Population: app. 1 billion!
Size: H: app. 43 cm, L: app. 76 cm
Weight: 5 kg - 11 kg
Life Expectancy: 3 years - 11 years
Food source: Chicken and other farm animals
Max. speed: 48 km/h
Nutritional value: Foxy carbonhydrates
Fox is a common name for many species of alert omnivorous mammals
belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small-to-medium-size canids
(slightly smaller than a medium-size domestic dog), with a flattened
skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and
a long bushy tail (or brush).
Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12
species actually belong to the Vulpes genus of "true foxes". By far the
most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox (Vulpes
vulpes), although various species are found on almost every continent.
The presence of fox-like carnivores all over the globe, together with
their widespread reputation for cunning, has contributed to their
appearance in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the
world (see also Foxes in culture). The hunting of foxes with packs of
hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, especially the British
Isles, was exported by European settlers to various parts of the New
World.
In the wild, foxes can live for up to 10 years, but most foxes only live
for 2 to 3 years due to hunting, road accidents and diseases. Foxes are
generally smaller than other members of the family Canidae such as
wolves, jackals, and domestic dogs. Male foxes are called reynards, and
weigh, on average, around 5.9 kilograms (13 lb) while female foxes,
called vixens, weigh less, at around 5.2 kilograms (11.5 lb).[4]
Fox-like features typically include a distinctive muzzle (a "fox face")
and bushy tail. Other physical characteristics vary according to
habitat. For example, the fennec fox (and other species of fox adapted
to life in the desert, such as the kit fox) has large ears and short
fur, whereas the Arctic fox has tiny ears and thick, insulating fur.
Another example is the red fox, which has a typical auburn pelt, the
tail normally ending with white marking. Litter sizes can vary greatly
according to species and environment – the Arctic fox, for example, has
an average litter of four to five, with eleven as maximum.
Mallard (Duck)
Animal Kingdom: Standard duck, Avec
Population: app. 8.4 millions
Size: W: app. 90 cm (wingspan), L: app. 60 cm
Weight: 0.72 kg - 1.58 kg
Life Expectancy: app. 20 years
Food source: Water grown plants and bread
Max. speed: 80 km/h (flying)
Nutritional value: Duckie fat and proteins
The Mallard was one of the many bird species originally described by
Carl Linnaeus in his 18th-century work, Systema Naturae, and still bears
its original binomial name.
"Mallard" is derived from the Old French malart or mallart "wild drake",
although its ultimate derivation is unclear. It may be related to an Old
High German masculine proper name Madelhart, clues lying in the
alternate English forms "maudelard" or "mawdelard".
Mallards frequently interbreed with their closest relatives in the genus
Anas, such as the American Black Duck, and also with species more
distantly related, for example the Northern Pintail, leading to various
hybrids that may be fully fertile.[5] This is quite unusual among
different species, and apparently is because the Mallard evolved very
rapidly and recently, during the Late Pleistocene. The distinct lineages
of this radiation are usually kept separate due to non-overlapping
ranges and behavioural cues, but are still not fully genetically
incompatible.[citation needed] Mallards and their domesticated
conspecifics are also fully interfertile.
Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females which can be
confused with the female Mallard. The female Gadwall (A. strepera) has
an orange-lined bill, white belly, black and white speculum which is
seen as a white square on the wings in flight, and is a smaller
bird.[13] More similar to the female Mallard in North America are the
American Black Duck (A. rubripes), which is notably darker hued in both
sexes than the Mallard, and the Mottled Duck (A. fulvigula), which is
somewhat darker than the female Mallard, with no white edge on the
speculum and slightly different bare-part colouration.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and
other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic
Mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc.,
where they are rare but increasing in availability.