![]() Fox cubs make a playful ‘ack-ack-ack-ack’ noise as they play fight with each other ( listen here). As well as their well-known triple box, male foxes are also known to make a loud ‘a-woo’ noise that sounds similar to a domestic dog ( listen here). While foxes can be really noisy during the January mating season they are mostly silent at other times of the year, but do have a repertoire of around 28 different, subtle sounds that they use to communicate with each other. Both the vixen and dog fox care for new cubs while the ‘helper’ foxes bring food to the nursing vixen. These screams are often answered by the 'hup-hup-hup' bark of the dog fox. There are usually three to four adults in each group: a dog, a vixen and a few female helpers from previous litters. If you've ever heard a pained cry in the dead of night that sounds like a woman screaming, then you've probably heard a female fox (or 'vixen') letting a male (or 'dog') fox know that she is ready to mate (listen here). Though they are solitary hunters, foxes do tend to live in small family groups that are mostly seen together during the breeding season. With cubs born deaf, blind and unable to regulate their own body temperature, their mother rarely leaves them for the first few weeks – she gets her food from other adult foxes in the group. When they’ve decided on the perfect spot, they bed down and give birth to around four or five cubs in March. ![]() ![]() Following the January mating season, vixens start finding a place to give birth and clear out potential den sites. ![]()
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