AHC/WI: Widespread domestication of foxes

I'd say they have the potential to be good pets, definitely not bad ones. Btw it only took nine generations.

This National Geographic article?

It really is an interesting article:

Selecting which foxes to breed based solely on how well they got along with humans seemed to alter their physical appearance along with their dispositions. After only nine generations, the researchers recorded fox kits born with floppier ears. Piebald patterns appeared on their coats. By this time the foxes were already whining and wagging their tails in response to a human presence, behaviors never seen in wild foxes.
 
The thing is, that I think cat free societies tended to go with Dogs as Verminators. The whole point of critters like Terriers and Daschunds etc. is that they kill rats and vermin.
 
Maybe it's aiming to early.

How early could somebody come up with trying the Russian experiment either just for science or to breed foxes easier for fur farmers to handle?
 
Weren't remains of pet foxes found in the tombs of ancient middle-eastern kings? I remember a similar thread being up awhile ago, and someone said that.
 
Weren't remains of pet foxes found in the tombs of ancient middle-eastern kings? I remember a similar thread being up awhile ago, and someone said that.

I think the issue is that taming=/=domestication, and these middle eastern kings probably did the latter.
 

BlondieBC

Banned
Maybe it's aiming to early.

How early could somebody come up with trying the Russian experiment either just for science or to breed foxes easier for fur farmers to handle?

I say 1850. If one guy is experimenting with peas, why not foxes? During the power of the Catholic Church, these experiments would likely be heresy.

I could also see some Chinese Dynasty doing experiments. They were a leading power in science for thousands of years. All it would take is an emperor who wanted a pet fox, and a solution could likely be found.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregor_Mendel
 

whitecrow

Banned
Um guys? Foxes WERE domesticated by early man - maybe even before dogs! There was an article posted here (by mojojojo IIRC) about it a few month ago. It seems dogs won out in the end for some reason.
 
Top