The Mythical, Magical, and Majestic fox
The Fox is animal that can be found in most corners of the globe, from the above pictured red fox, to the hardy Arctic Fox of the far Northern hemisphere. 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. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foxes) Though generally considered carnivores they are in truth omnivores who eat small game animals, lizards, fish, scorpions, grasses, berries, fruits, eggs, and insects among other things. The truly remarkable thing about foxes however is their adaptability, and the 'cunning with which they used to survive. White many animals fight for food int he winter, foxes actually store foods for use during particularly long winters where food is scarce, and mark it so they can easily find it when they need it. Though this is interesting it is far more interesting to hear about the impact these fluffy tailed creatures have had upon the cultures of the world.
Imagine if you will a bamboo forest path, and imagine yourself walking along such a path. Imagine a beautiful woman peaking out from behind the bamboo and beckoning you closer, imagine you notice she has fox tails. If this sounds fanciful you might just be right, but this is a part of the myth of the Japanese Kitsune. First let me clarify that Kitsune is the Japanese word for fox, and foxes in Japanese, as well as Chinese and Korean, folktales are cunning and mischievous tricksters. Though in Japan they occasionally help humans out in the name of their god Inari, The fox god who was a god of general prosperity. The Kitsune had powerful abilities to help them for one, they had strong magic, and those who had the strongest were the nine-tales those Kitsune who had over time split their tails to eventually have nine making them as legend goes immensely powerful as well as nigh immortal. But their most powerful ability was the ability to shape shift and take on the form of other creatures, including humans, though their tales could give them away. Normally they did this merely to toy with humans, but some were said to do so to lead men to their deaths as beautiful maidens. Then there are sayings such as outfoxed, which means to beat in a test of wits, speaking to the cunning seen in the creatures. There are also tales of foxes outwitting evil, as well as pure force with their cleverness, such as in finish mythology where a fox defeats an evil wold and and a brutish bear. Lessons about the importance of being wise as opposed to trying to merely force oneself through problems. There is a Tswana riddle that says that 'Only the muddy fox lives', which means only those who are willing to get dirty will prosper in their lives. For Native Americans, those of the northern tribes in particular, viewed foxes as wise and noble messengers, while predominantly the southern tribes viewed them as a trickster playing pranks, or worse. Through all of this the fox is simply an adaptable animal that while often ignored in favor of more popular and vibrant animals, is one that has a special charm that allowed it to be seen as a messenger, a god, a prankster, a mischievous spirit, and the very symbol of using ones intelligence to survive. |
Hello again people, today were talking about an animal very special both to me and to Aerin, the Fox! It's special because I'm partly based on a fox, and special to Aerin cause he loves the cute things, and all things he can learn about them. By the way did you know there is a song about what foxes say, and that it though humorous fairly well represents actual fox sounds. No? Well I'll drop some links below first to the video I mentioned and then to one showing actual fox sounds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jofNR_WkoCE What the fox says by Ylvis ^ What Foxes actually sound like V http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J6NuhlibHsM |