Meet Ellyn, the fox that made me understand we urgently needed a silver fox rescue and education provider. When I brought her home in Jan 2013, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. Not even my ZSL and Africa Alive zoo training with foxes and large carnivores could have prepared me for the experience. I couldn't believe this critter existed and I didn't know about it, I'm a walking animal encyclopedia!
(I credit this to my grandparents, buying me a new animal encyclopedia every Christmas throughout my childhood "because this one has.." x)
After meeting Ellyn a strange thing occurred, the childhood show The Animals of Farthing Wood, suddenly made sense. These were the blue foxes that were being referenced! I had always thought as a child that they were supposed to be wolves, but because we didn't have wolves in the UK, they decided to make them foxes. Most shows were US made, so that made sense to me at the time. Now I know better.
In the decade or so I have been studying these animals, it is clear that it is not just myself that is confused about these foxes, it appears that we have a sort of cultural amnesia over them, both here and in North America, which I find as fascinating as they are.
At the time Ellyn came to me, I was working as an exotic pet behaviourist, training micropigs, birds and large dogs deemed too aggressive for most dog trainers. I recall one very spoilt and bolshie pig I assisted just before Ellyn arrived, that lived in such comfort - it had it's own infinity pool overlooking idyllic countryside!
It was just after providing a consult for the micropig, that I stumbled across Ellyn, and the situation she was in was was quickly turning dire. She was in season and unhappy with her current mate (foxes are known to fall out and severe fights can be fatal). She needed a secure, fox-free home and fast, before any injuries or escape occurred.
Given my zoo training and behaviour work, large secure property and my utter fascination that this fox even existed, I decided I wanted to help her. So we made the 6 hour round trip to go collect her.
It was peak breeding season and Ellyn needed neutering, but not having ever expected to end up in the position I was in, I had used all my funds that month going to collect her and securing her safety. It is difficult to place silver foxes even today, but back then, it was an almost impossible task. No one had ever heard of them and I learnt very quickly, no one was equipped to handle them.
Ellyn stayed with me until I found her a placement at D.W.A.R.F in Essex, but after causing trouble there, the little minx was rehomed to a private keeper who had another fox to keep her company and who, most importantly, she got on with. I lost contact with her new keeper, but she was about 2-3 when she came to me, so if she is still alive today, she will be around 10-11 years old now.
I fell in love with silver foxes the day I met Ellyn. I wanted to learn more about them, but so little was known about them at the time. A google search revealed little more than a single article on the Russian experiment and an unusual situation over an imported fox and a rather odd legal case. Yet knowing of the fur trade, I knew there must be far more information about them out there than this. I was hooked!
Once I knew what they were, I knew there must be more info out there; over 100 years of it. So I sought to learn and document all I could, piecing together their natural history, bit by bit. The more I learnt, the more I understood how truly fascinating these foxes were.
The more I spent time with them, the more I understood they were not the same species as our fox, no matter what the literature said, and they were most certainly not 'wild'. I have never stopped learning about them since, nearly 10 years of silver foxes!
Ellyn was such an awesome fox, they are all awesome! I am forever grateful she fell into my life.
I have rehomed over 25 foxes through Black Foxes UK since then. We self-fund most of what we do and it has not been easy, but we just about scrape enough to continue providing support for these foxes, that they so rightly deserve. If you ever feel like supporting a good cause, please keep them in mind!
Thank you Ellyn,
For everything you taught me; which through the website, taught so many across the world 🦊
Ah she was special😍