Argumentative Essay: The Generation Of Red Foxes
January 17, 2007 (Maine, U.S) I arrived late today just as the speaker shouted,“one more’s spotted.” “There seems to be no word surrender in their dictionary,” Ethan (not a fan of foxes) commented, “from scavenging trash cans, bird food, and pet food to hunting squirrels, bird, rats, and mice”. “Now come on Ethan, you know we’re not working to kill them, we’re just here to move them,” a Mia said. I finished my coffee, just in time for the announcement. “The foxes has become braver in London, United Kingdoms, 6 of you are going there to research,” the speaker said.” “Ethan, Emma, Isla, Asher, and Mary, and Caroline. My mind immediately drifted to the thought of London, I’ll go shopping, I’ll come back successful, everyone cheering, me going get a raise- A shove on the back snapped
…show more content…
me back to reality. “We’re leaving in a week, so you should get ready” my sister commented.
January 27, 2007 (Airport, U.S)
Today’s the day. Hidden camera? check!, clothes? check!, water bottle? check!, bugspray? check!, tent? check!, first aid kit? check!, flashlight? check! notebook & pencil? check! “Come on sis it’s not like we’re going to study the polar bear or anything, it’s near civilization, so we can buy our things there,” she said a little annoyed. I bet she wonders how we’re related, I do too. I’m boarding the plane now so I’ll write later…. I’m on the plane and I’ll be few more hours before I’ll arrive, so I’ll write. I am a Caroline Alard scientist and researcher. I have been sent to London for a very important mission to study..a red fox. I got this notebook on what I know about her so far. In the notebook: Red Fox Study Notebook: Scientific name = Vulpes Fulvus Color fur: reddish-orange
Current location: London, UK Diet: Unknown (for now at least) Habits: Unique facts: There are only 3 real types of foxes: red foxes, gray foxes and Arctic foxes Unknown Extra notes:................ January 29, 2007 (American Airline)
Me, my sister, and a few other researchers are staking out a red fox den close to a hiking trail.
This generation of red foxes are growing braver and more confident, as to go near us humans and even tried using the cat flap to get into people's homes. Some people absolutely adore their furry friends and keep them as pets(not the best idea in my view), and others, well let's just say that fox hunting is a very popular sport. They have been raiding trash cans and have been found chasing cats, as well as cause a bunch of other problem.
Our boss Dr. Battles told us to research on a particular vixen (female fox) spotted at this location. So here I am Caroline Alard at the location. Me and a few other researchers spotting a lot of hole coming from everywhere along the path. This got to be the fox’s den, for foxes have lots of tunnels lending to their main burrow. Mary, my sister examine the holes, “from the looks of it this little buddy took this den from a badger and just adjusted it a little, and it’s about 8 feet deep”. Guess we are going to have to set camp here, I thought grimly. I was kind of hoping it was near a hotel.
Later that
day…………………..
Well let’s see, we have been sitting here for 3 hours straight until dusk and all we know is that this fox has pups. Well that was obvious, ‘cause it’s the December through time February is the time for mating and foxes don’t live in dens unless there going to give birth, they rather a bush or a shrub that is not enclosed. Yeah, like I said before it’s kinda obvious, but then again I can’t wait to see the adorable pups. I heard my Mary say it usually take as long a 7 ½ weeks, but it won’t take that long right? Anyhow I got to go and set up the camp.
February 19, 2007 I Caroline, scientist and researcher, instead of spending my outstanding talents on discovering ancient and undiscovered animal or fossil, sit here on this hard rock spending 8 weeks of my useful life staring down this damn hole! Just to find that Mary had a spy camera implanted in the den and had the computer connected to it. What a waste of time. Once we get home let’s see what I’ll do to that little brat!
Anyways I just got over dealing with Mary (for now), and we are about to take a look at the pups in the den. We also found out who the father was. It was an escaped black fox from the local zoo on October 14. The dog (male fox) seems to have found a mate here.
“The pups are adorable,” I whispered. “Kits,” Mary corrected. “Ok, then the kits are adorable,” I said, “happy misses know-it-all,” I silently added. “Actually they’re called cubs” she she corrected again. “Ok, cubs,” I repeated. “Whelps” she said. “Whelps?” I repeated after her, I haven’t this one yet. “Now that I think of it, you were right they are called pups,” she smiled slyly. This time instead of getting what she said repeated back to her she received an irritated glare I really think she likes to get on my nerves. Anyhow, there were 3 in the litter, which was kinda strange ‘cause usually there would be 4-6. They all were a fluffy gray color, everyone of them blind and helpless.. We partnered up. I chose the runt vixen, which should be around weigh 70-120g. Mary named it Vixen, English meaning fox-like, and it’s also the scientific name of a female fox(wow, so creative). The biggest male one was named Todd, English meanish fox and the dark one was called Astro, Greek meaning of the stars (now that is what I called creative).They haven’t seem to open their eyes yet, and are still clinging onto their mother. Some say that a fox’s milk is 3x richer than a cow’s milk.
Lately the father has been working nonstop to hunt food for the vixen and himself. He has the duty to protect the cubs and their mother from harm at this state. He even has been keeping a close eye on us!
February 26, 2007
They already opened their eyes! Right now it’s bluish-gray but later on they will turn into honey-colored. They are able to leave their mother’s side for short periods of times, but they are still drinking milk. No teeth yet, but they seem to triple their size and weight.
March 5, 2007
It’s been another week, and the pups milk teeth are finally starting to come in, but it will have to be another 3 weeks before they get their complete set of 28. Even with their new teeth coming in they are still drink their mother’s milk.
They seem to be capable of moving around, and are wrestling each other to figuring out who is the dominant one. The dominant one is the one strongest of the litter, because it can steal food from the weaker pups, and it has the most chance of surviving. So far the dominant one is……(drum roll).......Todd! March 12, 2007
A week has past and the female fox has started to wean the cubs. She still nurses her young, but also discourages milk by lying on her stomach when the kits try to feed. The kits are fed partly digested food, regurgitated by their parents. Even though the kits are not yet able to eat solid food, they will begin to suck on small scraps of meat, getting taste for thing to come. Their fur is growing not the fluffy gray color any more but is being replaced by a sandy brown-gray pelage, camouflaging them well against the soil surrounding them. Y now a ranking has been made, and they are starting the most carefree period of their lives. Soon they start to head outside. I waited for this day since forever. Today I’m going to go shopping for supply, we ran out.
Hours later………
When I came back, everyone was hopping around all excited. I asked them what the commotion was and the told me that I was 5 minutes late ‘cause the fox pups came outside their den and just went back in. I always was a 5 minutes too late or left 5 minutes too early. My absent soon became a joke. “After you left the 3 cubs tumbled out of the den,” Isla said, and “ Before you came the cubs tracked and took down a whole caribou,” Asher joked, “Aww what a shame after you left the cubs found a 3 unicycle and was riding them up and down the trail” Ethan smirked. Thanks a lot guys.
My friends told, “they were timid at first and didn’t go far, always ready to rush back upon hearing a warning bark from their parents. They slowly grew bolder and bolder on each passing day and began to explore more of the world.”
March 13, 2007
He is dead. One morning we woke up and couldn’t find the father of the kits. Their was search parties and everything but we couldn’t find a single lend. Last time we saw him he was hunting in his 190 acres of territories, usually foxes have a hunting range of 150 - 400 acres.
This is the worse time possible ‘cause a coyote has been creeping around late. When the father was here he made sure the coyote were a fair distance away. Now without the protection of the male, mother and pups are left vulnerable. Even though, the mother can fight, coyotes along with wolves, jackals, humans and sometimes eagle are still their predators. The pups of course won’t be helping, but only become a burden.
We found the body of the father on a highway. This sometimes happen to uncareful foxes, ran over by a car.
The mother and her offsprings left. We followed her tracks to a new location, far from the previous one. Her footprints were the size of a small dog’s, about 1 ½ - 2 inches long, but narrower and with smaller toe pads and more fur marks. She has 4 toes, 1 toe-like dewclaw on the front of each feet, and her forepaws(front paws) are wider than her hindpaws(back paws).
When we caught up to her, we saw her carrying the pups, by pressing against the nerve system on the back on their neck, making their muscles relaxed and making them go limp.
March 19, 2007
Life was hard without the help of the father. They grew to the extend of eating worms, fruits, vegetable, frogs, trash, and even pet food. I didn’t know foxes are omnivores, because they are classified as carnivores. Their territories (marked by poop and urine) were hard to defend, so they were always on the move. I was kinda hard to keep track of them. The mother had to hunt for the cubs and herself. She usually hunts from dusk to dawn, even though, she isn’t fully nocturnal she normally hunt at night and has can see well in the dark. Her eye seem to glow in the dark, but her best skill is hearing, she can hear a watch ticking 50 yards away, and run up to 45 miles per hour.
The mother had canine teeth used for hunting and getting a tight grip on her prey. She has a smaller pair of teeth called the Incisors, to snip pieces of food and to groom her fur. Last of all, she has wide, molars (at the back of the mouth) used for crushing bones, & fruit, the sharper molars was used for tearing apart huge chunks of meat.
March 20, 2007
The foxes are fully weaned, and they are generally rough housing with each other. They frequently stalk and chase one another, or will pounce on a sleeping sibling just for fun. Some rivalries is still apparent amongst the kits, and they will fight amongst themselves to get the most food, but their play is never aggressive dominance-related combat, but a method to learn hunting and fighting techniques needed later in life. Those brats always into trouble. They act really puppy-like, and has body language like in ‘let’s play!’ (head and front paws crouch low with the rump and tail wiggling high in the air) or food begging gestures (nipping at the mother’s mouth).
April 20, 2007
On april fool’s day I packed up pour water over our fire and screamed to everyone, “the forest is on fire hurry and get going”. You should have seen their expression. I must have been pretty convincing, but they got me back later on by putting a grilled grasshopper in my hamburger. Their excuse was that is was a delicacy around here, yeah right. Anyways the fox pups are starting their hunting training. So far they’re practicing with little prey like insects.
June 1, 2007
I haven’t been writing much because there’s nothing to write about, and beside predators keep finding the den so we are constantly moving. Their fur has shown each and every unique color coat. Vixen’s is a reddish-orange like her mother, Todd’s is a deep red from somewhere along the family, and Astro’s is a dark midnight black like is lost father. They have been accompanying their mother on hunting trips, and sharpening their skills.
December 1, 2007
It seems that it was only yesterday that they kits were so young and little. Now Astro and Todd are off to see the world. At least there's still little Vixen. I actually like the fact that female foxes stay with their family longer.
December 2, 2007
The mother’s dead. A hunter shot her. And little Vixen has found a mate. Ethan (Todd), Isla (Astro), and Asher (Vixen) decided to split up and find the pups. Me and the rest decided it’s over, we completed our mission, and were away too long, we’re going home.
December 10, 2007(0n the plane midflight)
On the plane I just realise that I didn’t go shopping and do all the fun stuff I was going to do at London. No I can’t go back yet. Too bad we’re already halfway there. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo……R.I.P shopping(not really).
me back to reality. “We’re leaving in a week, so you should get ready” my sister commented.
January 27, 2007 (Airport, U.S)
Today’s the day. Hidden camera? check!, clothes? check!, water bottle? check!, bugspray? check!, tent? check!, first aid kit? check!, flashlight? check! notebook & pencil? check! “Come on sis it’s not like we’re going to study the polar bear or anything, it’s near civilization, so we can buy our things there,” she said a little annoyed. I bet she wonders how we’re related, I do too. I’m boarding the plane now so I’ll write later…. I’m on the plane and I’ll be few more hours before I’ll arrive, so I’ll write. I am a Caroline Alard scientist and researcher. I have been sent to London for a very important mission to study..a red fox. I got this notebook on what I know about her so far. In the notebook: Red Fox Study Notebook: Scientific name = Vulpes Fulvus Color fur: reddish-orange
Current location: London, UK Diet: Unknown (for now at least) Habits: Unique facts: There are only 3 real types of foxes: red foxes, gray foxes and Arctic foxes Unknown Extra notes:................ January 29, 2007 (American Airline)
Me, my sister, and a few other researchers are staking out a red fox den close to a hiking trail.
This generation of red foxes are growing braver and more confident, as to go near us humans and even tried using the cat flap to get into people's homes. Some people absolutely adore their furry friends and keep them as pets(not the best idea in my view), and others, well let's just say that fox hunting is a very popular sport. They have been raiding trash cans and have been found chasing cats, as well as cause a bunch of other problem.
Our boss Dr. Battles told us to research on a particular vixen (female fox) spotted at this location. So here I am Caroline Alard at the location. Me and a few other researchers spotting a lot of hole coming from everywhere along the path. This got to be the fox’s den, for foxes have lots of tunnels lending to their main burrow. Mary, my sister examine the holes, “from the looks of it this little buddy took this den from a badger and just adjusted it a little, and it’s about 8 feet deep”. Guess we are going to have to set camp here, I thought grimly. I was kind of hoping it was near a hotel.
Later that
day…………………..
Well let’s see, we have been sitting here for 3 hours straight until dusk and all we know is that this fox has pups. Well that was obvious, ‘cause it’s the December through time February is the time for mating and foxes don’t live in dens unless there going to give birth, they rather a bush or a shrub that is not enclosed. Yeah, like I said before it’s kinda obvious, but then again I can’t wait to see the adorable pups. I heard my Mary say it usually take as long a 7 ½ weeks, but it won’t take that long right? Anyhow I got to go and set up the camp.
February 19, 2007 I Caroline, scientist and researcher, instead of spending my outstanding talents on discovering ancient and undiscovered animal or fossil, sit here on this hard rock spending 8 weeks of my useful life staring down this damn hole! Just to find that Mary had a spy camera implanted in the den and had the computer connected to it. What a waste of time. Once we get home let’s see what I’ll do to that little brat!
Anyways I just got over dealing with Mary (for now), and we are about to take a look at the pups in the den. We also found out who the father was. It was an escaped black fox from the local zoo on October 14. The dog (male fox) seems to have found a mate here.
“The pups are adorable,” I whispered. “Kits,” Mary corrected. “Ok, then the kits are adorable,” I said, “happy misses know-it-all,” I silently added. “Actually they’re called cubs” she she corrected again. “Ok, cubs,” I repeated. “Whelps” she said. “Whelps?” I repeated after her, I haven’t this one yet. “Now that I think of it, you were right they are called pups,” she smiled slyly. This time instead of getting what she said repeated back to her she received an irritated glare I really think she likes to get on my nerves. Anyhow, there were 3 in the litter, which was kinda strange ‘cause usually there would be 4-6. They all were a fluffy gray color, everyone of them blind and helpless.. We partnered up. I chose the runt vixen, which should be around weigh 70-120g. Mary named it Vixen, English meaning fox-like, and it’s also the scientific name of a female fox(wow, so creative). The biggest male one was named Todd, English meanish fox and the dark one was called Astro, Greek meaning of the stars (now that is what I called creative).They haven’t seem to open their eyes yet, and are still clinging onto their mother. Some say that a fox’s milk is 3x richer than a cow’s milk.
Lately the father has been working nonstop to hunt food for the vixen and himself. He has the duty to protect the cubs and their mother from harm at this state. He even has been keeping a close eye on us!
February 26, 2007
They already opened their eyes! Right now it’s bluish-gray but later on they will turn into honey-colored. They are able to leave their mother’s side for short periods of times, but they are still drinking milk. No teeth yet, but they seem to triple their size and weight.
March 5, 2007
It’s been another week, and the pups milk teeth are finally starting to come in, but it will have to be another 3 weeks before they get their complete set of 28. Even with their new teeth coming in they are still drink their mother’s milk.
They seem to be capable of moving around, and are wrestling each other to figuring out who is the dominant one. The dominant one is the one strongest of the litter, because it can steal food from the weaker pups, and it has the most chance of surviving. So far the dominant one is……(drum roll).......Todd! March 12, 2007
A week has past and the female fox has started to wean the cubs. She still nurses her young, but also discourages milk by lying on her stomach when the kits try to feed. The kits are fed partly digested food, regurgitated by their parents. Even though the kits are not yet able to eat solid food, they will begin to suck on small scraps of meat, getting taste for thing to come. Their fur is growing not the fluffy gray color any more but is being replaced by a sandy brown-gray pelage, camouflaging them well against the soil surrounding them. Y now a ranking has been made, and they are starting the most carefree period of their lives. Soon they start to head outside. I waited for this day since forever. Today I’m going to go shopping for supply, we ran out.
Hours later………
When I came back, everyone was hopping around all excited. I asked them what the commotion was and the told me that I was 5 minutes late ‘cause the fox pups came outside their den and just went back in. I always was a 5 minutes too late or left 5 minutes too early. My absent soon became a joke. “After you left the 3 cubs tumbled out of the den,” Isla said, and “ Before you came the cubs tracked and took down a whole caribou,” Asher joked, “Aww what a shame after you left the cubs found a 3 unicycle and was riding them up and down the trail” Ethan smirked. Thanks a lot guys.
My friends told, “they were timid at first and didn’t go far, always ready to rush back upon hearing a warning bark from their parents. They slowly grew bolder and bolder on each passing day and began to explore more of the world.”
March 13, 2007
He is dead. One morning we woke up and couldn’t find the father of the kits. Their was search parties and everything but we couldn’t find a single lend. Last time we saw him he was hunting in his 190 acres of territories, usually foxes have a hunting range of 150 - 400 acres.
This is the worse time possible ‘cause a coyote has been creeping around late. When the father was here he made sure the coyote were a fair distance away. Now without the protection of the male, mother and pups are left vulnerable. Even though, the mother can fight, coyotes along with wolves, jackals, humans and sometimes eagle are still their predators. The pups of course won’t be helping, but only become a burden.
We found the body of the father on a highway. This sometimes happen to uncareful foxes, ran over by a car.
The mother and her offsprings left. We followed her tracks to a new location, far from the previous one. Her footprints were the size of a small dog’s, about 1 ½ - 2 inches long, but narrower and with smaller toe pads and more fur marks. She has 4 toes, 1 toe-like dewclaw on the front of each feet, and her forepaws(front paws) are wider than her hindpaws(back paws).
When we caught up to her, we saw her carrying the pups, by pressing against the nerve system on the back on their neck, making their muscles relaxed and making them go limp.
March 19, 2007
Life was hard without the help of the father. They grew to the extend of eating worms, fruits, vegetable, frogs, trash, and even pet food. I didn’t know foxes are omnivores, because they are classified as carnivores. Their territories (marked by poop and urine) were hard to defend, so they were always on the move. I was kinda hard to keep track of them. The mother had to hunt for the cubs and herself. She usually hunts from dusk to dawn, even though, she isn’t fully nocturnal she normally hunt at night and has can see well in the dark. Her eye seem to glow in the dark, but her best skill is hearing, she can hear a watch ticking 50 yards away, and run up to 45 miles per hour.
The mother had canine teeth used for hunting and getting a tight grip on her prey. She has a smaller pair of teeth called the Incisors, to snip pieces of food and to groom her fur. Last of all, she has wide, molars (at the back of the mouth) used for crushing bones, & fruit, the sharper molars was used for tearing apart huge chunks of meat.
March 20, 2007
The foxes are fully weaned, and they are generally rough housing with each other. They frequently stalk and chase one another, or will pounce on a sleeping sibling just for fun. Some rivalries is still apparent amongst the kits, and they will fight amongst themselves to get the most food, but their play is never aggressive dominance-related combat, but a method to learn hunting and fighting techniques needed later in life. Those brats always into trouble. They act really puppy-like, and has body language like in ‘let’s play!’ (head and front paws crouch low with the rump and tail wiggling high in the air) or food begging gestures (nipping at the mother’s mouth).
April 20, 2007
On april fool’s day I packed up pour water over our fire and screamed to everyone, “the forest is on fire hurry and get going”. You should have seen their expression. I must have been pretty convincing, but they got me back later on by putting a grilled grasshopper in my hamburger. Their excuse was that is was a delicacy around here, yeah right. Anyways the fox pups are starting their hunting training. So far they’re practicing with little prey like insects.
June 1, 2007
I haven’t been writing much because there’s nothing to write about, and beside predators keep finding the den so we are constantly moving. Their fur has shown each and every unique color coat. Vixen’s is a reddish-orange like her mother, Todd’s is a deep red from somewhere along the family, and Astro’s is a dark midnight black like is lost father. They have been accompanying their mother on hunting trips, and sharpening their skills.
December 1, 2007
It seems that it was only yesterday that they kits were so young and little. Now Astro and Todd are off to see the world. At least there's still little Vixen. I actually like the fact that female foxes stay with their family longer.
December 2, 2007
The mother’s dead. A hunter shot her. And little Vixen has found a mate. Ethan (Todd), Isla (Astro), and Asher (Vixen) decided to split up and find the pups. Me and the rest decided it’s over, we completed our mission, and were away too long, we’re going home.
December 10, 2007(0n the plane midflight)
On the plane I just realise that I didn’t go shopping and do all the fun stuff I was going to do at London. No I can’t go back yet. Too bad we’re already halfway there. Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo……R.I.P shopping(not really).