Wednesday 4 January 2017

If You’ve Ever Dreamed of Becoming a Fox, Here’s the Closest You’ll Get

You might think of them as animals of the countryside, but these days, some red foxes are as confident navigating cities as us humans. Thousands live in large urban centers, especially in Britain, hidden during the day, and active at night. Most people never see these masters of invisibility, who slink around in the dark corners and under cars, catching rats, or scrounging through trash bins.

City-dwelling red foxes got a special shout out recently on the BBC’s smash hit nature series Planet Earth II, but they get a starring role in a 360 video short on the BBC Earth YouTube channel. The video puts you into a fox’s perspective and takes you through the parks and back alleys of a major city, complete with narration from the wonderful Sir David Attenborough.

Cruising at ground level, you get spooked by dogs, the city fox’s arch nemesis, dodge the occasional car, scrounge trash, and call to other foxes in your distinctive, sometimes unsettling way that sounds an awful lot like someone yacking up a bone (the inspiration of a viral song). At the end of your city fox sojourn, Sir David reminds you of our furry neighbors, saying “You may never see a fox in the city, but they’re there alright, going about their lives while we’re sleeping.”

Planet Earth II is BBC Earth’s ten year anniversary follow up to one of the most acclaimed nature documentary series ever created. The original Planet Earth made waves in 2006 for being one of the first nature programs ever to be filmed in high-definition, and its follow up is continuing the trend of upping the ante, having been shot in 4K, or ultra-high definition resolution. It aired in the United Kingdom in November, and will hit US television screens on January 28th. It’s currently the most watched nature series of the last fifteen years in the UK.

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from If You’ve Ever Dreamed of Becoming a Fox, Here’s the Closest You’ll Get

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