Canid Of The Month Newsletter - Fennec Fox

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Welcome to Underrated-Canids 1st Edition Canid Of The Month Newsletter!

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Did you know?...

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Hello, dear readers! Did you know every single Month from now on Underrated-Canids will be celebrating a specific Canid from our Allowed List in our Group? Since this is our First Edition, we thought we would start off with one of the most cutest Animals in our Group to grab your attention...this being the Fennec Fox . Every month for our COTM (Canid Of The Month) project we will be including a small contest, the theme being the best deviation in the Fennec Fox section of our gallery. In addition, we have an array of amazing facts, videos and other media to share with you on the adorable Fennec Fox's. We will keep you updated via blogs for the competition.

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Before we get started want to know more about us and why we're doing this?...

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So what is Underrated-Canids all about you say? What's the goal of our Group? Well most have asked that question and we have given them all the same answer.

Underrated-Canids Is a Animal-based Group (Yes -- No Humans allowed) that focuses purely on promoting specific Members of the Canidae family. We feel these Members are Underrated/Overshadowed and deserve more recognition from the DeviantART Community. Our goal is to make people aware that these Animals do exist and they do need your your help in
promoting them.

With our Canid of The Month Newsletters, we hope to educate and entertain our Audience with interesting facts and resources from around the Internet, aswell as make it fun at the same time.  

If you like our Group, don't hesitate to click on the Join button at the top left of our Profile page. There are no requirements to join and we always value new Deviants to our Group.

Alternatively if you're unsure of joining us, you can always click on the Watch button so you can keep up to date with any Group events we have.

Now! On with the show!

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Fennec Fox Facts

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Type: Mammal
Diet: Omnivore
Average Size: Head and Body: 9.5 to 16 in. Tail: 7 to 12.2 in.
Average Weight: 2.2 to 3.3 Ibs

Fennec derives from the Arabic word ‘fanak’, which means fox, so when said in the English language, we in-fact call them ‘Fox Fox‘. Their scientific name is the ‘Fennecus Zerda’. They are nocturnal animals that tend to go out at night, and by day, stay in their burrows.
The fennec fox is the smallest of all canids; being roughly the same size as a little house cat. It is believed their species evolved in this way to be able to camouflage and hide from predators.
Their most iconic feature is the huge ears, which can be as long as 6 inches. As well as adding to their ‘cuteness’, the ears come in handy while hunting, as their good hearing skills make them able to listen for pray, even those who live under ground. The ears also help to get rid of excess heat during the day, balancing their body temperature. They prefer to live in hot climates as the firm sand in deserts make a viable place for building their burrows.
Fennec Foxes commonly have thick, silky, cream to golden fur that reflects light and heat during the day to keep them cool and keeps them warm during the night and winter. This also helps to camouflage to their surroundings, as they are found in the Sahara Desert, and northern parts of Africa. They are able to live in such hot, desolate conditions as they source and store water that they gain from their diet. Also, their kidneys are adapted to restrict water loss, keeping their bodies hydrated. They also bare extra fur on the pads of their paws to protect their feet from blistering heat given from the sand, and also helps them to grip on loose sand, giving the agile mobility of running, jumping and standing on it. This helps for digging burrows too. Their abilities also help to source foods for their diet, which  normally consists of small rodents, lizards, birds, eggs, insects, fruit, leaves, nuts and berries, which are fairly common and easy to obtain in such desolate habitats.
  The Fennec family are one of the most social wild animals, as they live in up to groups of ten and mate for life. Due to this common friendliness, the Fennec Fox remains to be one of the two species of canids legal in many states of the US, to keep as pets. The Silver Fox can also be kept as a pet in places. Per group, it is expected one litter of kittens a year, and up to four in each litter. The average life expectancy of the specie is ten in the wild, but up to thirteen as a pet.
The Fox’s main predators are the Caracals and the Eagle Owl. However, they are deemed difficult to capture, due to their size and speed. For the moment, we are thankful to say that this species does not face the possibility of, or coming close, to being endangered and is as far as statistics relatively know, are abundant and relatively widespread. However, it is important that we keep an eye on them, because us humans are their main predator, for we hunt them for their fur. Locals also sell them to tourists, which although not killed, does stop breeding and therefore dangers the future existence of these animals. Yet again, this is very uncommon. They also have benefits for us and their own surroundings, as they help to keep down the population of rodents and locusts, keeping pests from intruding on farmers crops.

Random Fact : The Fennec Fox is the national animal of Algeria! Their national football/soccer team is named the ‘Les Fennecs’. Here’s the teams flag: rlv.zcache.com/ultra_cool_les_…

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Internet Images

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Here is a small collection of adorable images that we found across the internet:

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FennecTube

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The Fennec Fox here is exploring it’s ‘modern’ environment as a pet. It raises the question whether wild animals are really happy and comfortable in our homes. Either way, it’s very cute >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzHXZa…

A Fennec Fox eating a carrot, which isn’t part of their natural diet, but still beneficial for their eyesight >  www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6RWqw…

This one shows how excitable and playful Fennec Fox’s can be >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zv42_d…

A Tutorial-like Video on drawing a Digital Fennec Fox >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQyxwZ…

Examples of sounds a Fennec Fox can make >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh6xBg… www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8n_BG…

Fennec Foxes arguing with eachother >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hkptq…

Fennec Fox playing with owner >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqx6Pq…

Fennec getting comfortable >
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJ77pT…

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Fame Corner

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The fennec fox has appeared in many forms of literature and media:

The world wide famous book ‘The Little Prince’ by Antoine de Saint Exupery, didn’t feature a Fennec Fox, but inspired one of the fox characters in it. The fox talks about love, which was taken from how friendly the foxes are. The author was able to encounter these amazing creatures due to fact he was involved in a plane crash and landed in a desert. ( The Saharah desert, possibly?) Anyhow, if you wish to but the book, you can find it here: www.amazon.co.uk/Little-Prince…

The Fennec Fox also appeared in a comic entitled ‘Fennec’ by Lewis Trondheim, which was extremely popular in France. If you would like to buy it, you can do here: www.amazon.co.uk/Fennec-Lewis-…

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Contest Info

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Are you interested in a Fennec Fox contest? All you have to do is draw, paint, model, build, sculpt or otherwise photograph, a Fennec Fox and submit it to the group folder. You have until the 22nd of August to get in your entries, as we will post a blog featuring the 6 final contenders, and on the 29th, announce the winner, who will receive 50 points! So what are you waiting for, get submitting!!!

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  Example of Fennec Fox Work So Far

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   :thumb244001270: :thumb181341764: :thumb167000437: :thumb165381235: :thumb153199494: :thumb152185033: :thumb190989627:

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  Bibilography and Credits

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Bibliography:

Canids: www.canids.org/species/vulpes_…
Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fennec_F…
Fennecfoxes; fennecfoxes.webs.com/fennecfox…
Youtube: www.youtube.com

Credits go to Staff Members:
Terry-L-T-Kitto katt315 Mehan101 Illusion-of-Hearts PuddinPandaLover TheWerewolfPuppy

Other Credits to:
We would also like to thank kalambo for making our Group banner and jvsef for cutting the banner down to individual thumbs to use for our Newsletter!
Internet images and Youtube Videos:
Internet images and Youtube Videos are Copyright to their natural owners. We don't own any of them!

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