Foxes are better predators thanks to the Earth's magnetic field!

[Analog]

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists in the Czech Republic and Germany studying the hunting behavior of red foxes have discovered the foxes are more successful if they jump on their prey towards the north.

Professor Hynek Burda of the University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany, and colleagues in the Czech Republic, studied the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), which hunts small prey in long vegetation or under snow by slowly creeping forward and listening intently before jumping high and pouncing on the prey from above, a process known as mousing.


A total of 84 wild red foxes were observed in 65 locations in the Czech Republic by 23 wildlife biologists and hunters between April 2008 and September 2010. The observers used a compass to measure body orientation of the foxes as they prepared to make hunting jumps on 592 occasions in total, with the immediate success or failure of 200 of the jumps being clear. The observations were made in different seasons and habitats and different times of day.


The researchers found that the foxes tended to prepare for their jumps in long vegetation or snow with their body aligned in a roughly north-easterly direction (around 20° clockwise from magnetic north). In short vegetation, where the foxes were more likely to be able to see their prey, there was no bias towards any particular direction.

 

[techs]

This fox has been known to snag wild actors with her toe thumbs: