FOXES IN NATURE

 

Ahlstrom, Mark. E. The Foxes. New York: Crestwood House. 1983.

A brief overview of facts about foxes, with some excellent photography.

Grambo, Rebecca L. The World of the Fox. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books. 1995.

A lovely combination of nature facts and gorgeous photography.

Henry, J. David. Red Fox: The Catlike Canine. Washington, D. C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. 1996.

A thoroughly researched book on foxes, which has been recently updated to include new data and statistics.

Humane Society of the United States. Wild Neighbors: The Humane Approach to Living with Wildlife. Colorado: Fulcrum Publishing. 1997.

This is a book that deals with wonders, and the problems, of co-existing with wildlife, and offers practical, and humane, methods for handling a variety of situations.

Turbak, Gary. Twilight Hunters: Wolves, Coyotes, & Foxes. Arizona: Northland Publishing. 1987.

A lovely combination of facts and photography.


FOXES IN FICTION

 

Adams, Richard. The Plague Dogs. New York: Knopf, 1978.

Even though the main story centers around two dogs who escaped from a laboratory, there are fox characters who interact with the dogs, using them as hunting aids. The foxes meet their end by being torn apart in a fox hunt.

"B. B" [Denys J. Watkins-Pitchford]. Wild Lone: The Story of the Pytchley Fox. New York: Scribner's. 1938.

An "autobiography" of a fox famous in British hunt lore; showing knowledge of the British fox, along with respect and empathy for the hunted.

Budden, Major John. Charles the Fox. 1932.

Burnard, Sir Francis. The Fox's Frolic. 1917.

Dahl, Roald. Fantastic Mr. Fox.

Dann, Colin. The Animals of Farthing Wood. New York: Elsevier Nelson. 1979.

This is the first book in a series in which the forest animals, including the foxes, are portrayed much as the rabbits were in Watership Down. In the first book the foxes are forced to relocate because of human expansion.

___. Battle for the Park.

___. The Fox Cub Bold.

___. Fox's Feud.

___. In the Grip of Winter.

___. In the Path of the Storm.

___. Siege of White Deer Park.

 

De Lint, Charles. Someplace To Be Flying. New York: Tor. 1998.

A strong story that blends Native American lore, the shape shifting First People, and an urban setting into a tale of change and redemption.

Findley, Timothy. "Foxes." Stones. New York: Bantam, Doubleday, Dell. 1988, pp. 59-74.

A short story about a man's metamorphosis into a fox via the magic of a series of masks.

Fourvier, Andre'e-Paule. Skir the Fox. New York: Bedrick Books. 1984.

Gaiman, Neil. Sandman: The Dream Hunters.

One of _The Sandman_ graphic novels, but this time the tale is of a tragic love between a young monk and fox spirit.

Garnett David. Lady into Fox. New York: Knopf. 1924.

A story of metamorphosis.

George, Jean Craighead, and John L. George. Vulpes, The Red Fox. 1948.

___. Moon of the Fox Pups. New York: Harper Collins. 1942.

Higginson, A. Henry. The Hill Vixia. London. 1945.

Another "autobiography" or "biography" of a fox famous in British hunters' lore. A book that shows some empathy and understanding for the hunted.

Jenk, Almet. The Huntsman at the Gate. Philadelphia: Lippincote. 1952.

This is a story of a fox hunter that finds himself in a heaven ruled by foxes after he is killed on a jump.

Johnson, Kij. The Fox Woman. New York: Tor. 2000.

A novel about a young kitsune who falls in love with exiled young man.

Kilworth, Gary. The Foxes of First Dark. New York: Doubleday. 1990.

This book appeared in Europe under the title, Hunter's Moon (1989). This is a book that is also similar to Watership Down. After the foxes are forced out of their small area of forest they endeavor to raise their young so that they will be able to survive as urban foxes.

Lai, Larissa. When Fox is a Thousand. Vancouver: Press Gang Publishers. 1995.

This is partially told from the point of view of a Chinese shape-shifting fox, whose life has spanned centuries. Her story is intermingled with the stories of human women, both from ancient China and modern Vancouver.

McCaughren, Tom. Run to Earth. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. 1984.

This is part of an Irish trilogy, which is told from the point of view of the fox.

___. Run With the Wind. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. 1983.

___. Run Swift, Run Free. Dublin: Wolfhound Press. 1986.

Mansfield, John. Reynard the Fox, or, the Ghost Heath Run. 1919.

A long narrative poem in the fox hunt tradition; a tradition that includes many "autobiographic" novels about horses and dogs, who are forced to run on the hunt - these stories usually include fox characters, who usually end up dead.

Nash, D. W. The Fox's Prophecy. (1871).

The poem is available with commentary by R.W. F. Poole. London: Michael Joseph. 1995.

A strange poem about a (ghost?) fox's prophecy for England.

Owens, Harry. The Scandalous Adventures of Reynard the Fox: A Modern American Version. New York: Knopf. 1945.

Pitt, Francis. Scotty: The Adventures of a Highland Fox. New York: Longman's Green. 1932.

A novel written by one of the earliest women biologists-novelists.

Reichert, Mickey Zucker, and Jennifer Wingert. Spirit Fox. New York: Daw Books, Inc.. 1998.

A fantasy novel whose main protagonist is a young woman whose spirit is entwined with that of a fox's; a situation that has blessed or cursed her with the ability to shape shift.

Roberts, Charles. G. D.. Red Fox. (1905).

A novel about the life of a fox by a Canadian naturalist-novelist.

Rook, David. The Belstone Fox. (1970).

Ropier, George. A Fox's Tale: A Sketch of the Hunting Field. (1867).

Seton, Ernest Thompson. "The Springfield Fox." Wild Animals I Have Known. (1898).

Sherman, Delia. Through a Brazen Mirror. New York: Ace Books. 1989.

A fantasy novel that offers another variant on the Snow White fairy tale; with a fox as the familiar to dark witch.

Smith, Thomas. Life of a Fox Written by Himself. (1843).

Steiber, Ellen. "The Fox Wife. " Ruby Slippers, Golden Tears. Datlow, Ellen, and Terry Windling. (ed.). New York: An AvoNova Book. 1995, pp. 285 - 358.

Stephen. David. String-lug the Fox. Boston: Little Brown. 1952.

The story of a grey Scottish fox, written by a native of Scotland who has studied and championed the fox.

Stranger, Joyce. The Running Foxes. (1965).

Tesnohlidek, Rudolf. The Cunning Little Vixen.

Translated by Tatiean Firkusny, with pictures by Maurice Sendak. New York: Farrar, Straus, & Gerorix. 1985.

In the afterword, by Robert T. Jones, it is explained that Vixen Sharp-ears was a real life fox in 19th century Czechlovakia, who became the subject of folk stories. She later became the protagonist in The Cunning Little Vixen, which originally appear ed as a newspaper serial.

Tolkien, J. R. R. Sir Gawain and The Green Knight. Pearl. Sir Orfeo. New York: Ballantine Books. 1975.

This translation is but one of many of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and while foxes are not the main focus of the poem one of the three hunt scenes is that of a fox hunt.

Travers, P. L.The Fox at the Manager. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanich. 1962.

Tregarthen, J. C. The Life Story of a Fox. (1906).

Wharton, William. Franky Furbo. New York: Henry Holt. 1989.


FOXES IN FOLKLORE AND FABLE

Aesop's Fables.

Afanas'ev, Aleksandr. Russian Fairy Tales. New York: Pantheon Books. 1945.

This translated collection includes several fables which include foxes.

____. Russian Secret Tales: Bawdy Folk tales of Old Russia. Baltimore: Clearfield Company, Inc. 1998.

Bierhorst, John. The Danciing Fox: Arctic Folktales. New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc.. 1997.

Fillmore, Parker. The Shepherd's Nosegay: Stories from Finland and Czechoslovakia. New York: Harcourt, Brace, and World, Inc.1922.

Harris, Joel Chandler. Uncle Remus, Or Mr. Fox, Mr. Rabbit, and Mr. Terrapin. (1881) New York: Avenel Books. (Oxford World Classics). 1985.

Kurelek, William. Fox Mykyta. Montreal: Tundra Books. 1978.

Louie, Kam, and Louise Edwards. Censored by Confucius: Ghost Stories by Uuan Mei. Armonk, New York: M. E. Sharpe, Inc.. 1996.

Mack, Carol, and Dinah Mack. A Field Guide to Demons, Fairies, Fallen Angels, and Other Subversive Spirits. New York: Arcade Publishing. 1998.

This book is an interesting reference, covering a range of mythos from many countries.

Martin, Laura C. Wildlife Folklore. Connecticut: The Globe Pequot Press. 1994.

This offers an overview of lore and myths pertaining to different animals.

Mercatane, Anthony S. Zoo of the Gods: The World of Animals in Myth and Legend. Berkeley: Seastone, an imprint of Ulysses Press. 1999.

An overview of myth and legend about animals (real and imagined).

Mayer, Fanny Hagin. (translator and ed.). The Yanagita Kunio Guide to the Japanese Folk Tale. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. 1948.

Nakamura, Kyoko Motomochi. Miraculous Stories from the Japanese Buddist Tradition: The Nihon ryoiki of the Monk Kyokai. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 1973.

Olson, Dennis L. Shared Spirits: Wildlife and Native Americans. Minnetonka: NorthWord Press. 1995.

Legends and beliefs of the Native Americans; beautifully illustrated by photographs.

Thornhill, Jan. Crow and Fox, and Other Animal Legends. New York: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers. 1993.

Ukrainian Folk Tales. Kiev: Dnipro Publishers. 1985.

Ury, Marian. Tales of Times Now Past: Sixty-two Stories from a Medieval Japanese Collection. Berkeley: University of California Press. 1979.

Williamson, Duncan, and Linda Williamson. The Genie and the Fisherman: And Other Tales from the Traveling People. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1991.


FOXES IN BOOKS FOR CHILDREN

Blyer, Allison. Finding Foxes. New York: Philomel Books.

A beautifully illustrated book of haiku about foxes.

Bruchac, Joseph and Paul Morin. Fox Song. New York: Putnam & Grosset. 1997.

This is a sensitive story about what a young Native American girl's Grandmother, with the help of a wild fox, teaches her about living and dying.

Clifford, Eth. Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Nosy Otter. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1992.

A fun story about Flatfoot Fox, investigator, is called in to find Mrs. Chatterbox Otter's missing son, Nosy.

Ellis, Mary. The Arctic Fox. Hammersmith: HarperCollins Publishers, Ltd.. 1998.

A story about a boy and his explorer father, and their quest to return an arctic fox to her native habitat.

Giffard, Hannah. Red Fox. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 1991.

Lovely, stylized, watercolors are the highlight of this book; as it follows a father's foxes evening search for food.

___. Red Fox on the Move. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 1992.

This story follows the Red Fox and his family's search for a new home.

Grimm, Jacob, and Wilhelm Grimm. The Wedding of Mistress Fox. New York: North-South Books, Inc. 1994.

A prettily illustrated version of the Grimm tale.

Henry, Marguerite. Cinnebar: The One O'Clock Fox. New York: Rand McNally and Company. 1956.

This is a story that is supposedly based on a legend about a fox that always appeared at one o'clock so that George Washington could hunt him. Marguerite Henry expanded on the tale, and portrayed not only the hunt, but the entire fox family.

Jarrell, Randall. The Gingerbread Rabbit. HarperCollins Publishers. 1992.

A short tale of a bunny of dough that soon takes on a life of its own, and in its travels meets up with a Fox.

Lane, Margaret. The Fox. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers. 1982.

Gorgeous, realistic pictures highlight this overview of a fox's life.

Lawon, John. You Better Come Home With Me. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers. 1966.

A strange, but haunting, tale set in the Appalachian mountains of Boy, who is taken in by Scarecrow, Mr. Fox, and Witch.

Mannix, Daniel P. The Fox and the Hound. New York: E. P. Dutton. 1967.

This is the source of Disney's cartoon movie.

Marston, Elsa. The Fox Maiden. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 1996.

This is an original story, based on Japanese fox lore, of a young fox who wants to see what life is like as a human girl.

Matthews, Downs. Arctic Foxes. New York: Simon and Schuster for Young Readers. 1995.

A lovely pictorial of the life of an Arctic fox.

Nankichi, Niimi. Buying Mittens. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. 1999.

A softly illustrated book about one winter's night when a vixen sends her cub off to buy mittens for his cold paws.

Nelson, Drew. Wild Voices. New York: Philomel Books. 1991.

Fine ink drawings illustrate a series of short stories, which offer unflinching views into the lives of the fox, lynx, mustang, puma, wolf, goat, dog. Sympathetic but not sentimental.

Rubinstein, Gillian. Foxspell. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers. 1996.

See How They Grow: Fox. New York: DK Publishing. 1992.

This book uses photographs and drawings to show the various stages of a fox kit's development.

Sogabe, Aki. Aesop's Fox. San Diego: Browndeer Press. 1999.

This is an illustrated collection of Aesop's tales of foxes.

Vaes, Alain (illustrator). Reynard the Fox: Adapted from the Classic Folk Tale. Kansas City: Turner Publishing, Inc. 1994.

Yep, Laurence. The Ghost Fox. New York: Scholastic, Inc.. 1994.

The tale of how Little Lee saves his mother from the spell of the ghost fox.

Religion

Chan, Leo Tak-hung. The Discourse on Foxes and Ghosts: Ji Yun and Eighteenth-Century Literati Storytelling. Honolulu: University of Hawai'I Press. 1998.

Iwasaka, Michiko, and Barre Toelken. Ghosts and the Japanese: Cultural Experience In Japanese Death Legends. Logan: Utah State University Press. 1994.

Ross, Catrien. Supernatural and Mysterious Japan: Spirits, Hauntings, Paranormal Phenomena. Tokyo: Yenbooks. 1996.

Smyers, Karen. The Fox and the Jewel: Shared and Private Meanings in Contemporary Japanese Inari Worship. Honolulu: University of Hawai'I Press. 1999.


FOXES IN ARCHEOLOGY

Green, Miranda. Animals in Celtic Life and Myth. New York: Routledge. 1992.

There are not many references to foxes in this book, but there is some mention in the archaeological evidence that they were used as sacrifices.

Merrifield, Ralph. The Archaeology of Ritual and Magic. New York: New Amsterdam Books. 1987.

There is only one reference to a site where fox remains were found, but it is a good companion book to Miranda Green's book.


MISCELLANEOUS

 

Carr Sara, and Raymond. (ed.). Small Oxford Books: Fox-Hunting. Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press. 1982.

A small sampling of literature about foxes and fox-hunting; offering commentary from a wide range of time periods and views.

Johnston, Johanna. (ed.) The Fabulous Fox: An Anthology of Fact & Fiction. New York: Dodd, Mead, & Company. 1979.

A nice overview on the topic of foxes.

Page, Robin. A Fox's Tale: The Secret Life of the Fox. London: Hodder & Stoughton. 1986.

A concise collection of the author's personal experiences, nature facts, folklore, and photographs.


FOX WEB SITES

 

Adam's Fox Box

Adam Moss - adam@foxbox.org

 

http://www.foxbox.org

_________________

The Foxes' Covert

J & J Corbally - icorb@indigo.ie

 

http://foxleap.fortunecity.com

 

This is a beautifully designed site, which has a broad selection of links to other web sites that focus on foxes.

_________________

Fox Forest

The official URL is http://www.foxforest.com

 

Rich - fox@whidbey.net

 

This is a promising new site, which focuses on foxes, and will be well-worth visiting often in order to watch the progress.

_________________

Mike's Fox and Furry Page

 

http://dt.colorado.edu/foxes/

 

This is an attractive site, which offers a good selection of general information on foxes.

_________________

The Urban Fox

This is an excellently researched site, with an emphasis on foxes in urban settings. It also offers an excellent selection of links, general fox information, and a bibliography.

 

http://www.foxes.org/urbanfox/

_________________

 

This is simply called Vulpes.org, but has a wealth of information, links, and folk stories.

http://www.vulpes.org