Farmed foxes prefer a cage with an unobstructed View

Abstract

We have observed earlier that farmed blue foxes (Alopex lagopus) and silver foxes (Vulpes vulpes) tend to avoid resting at those sites in their cages from which the view to the surroundings is obstmeted. In the present study this hypothesis was
tested in a preference test in Which the foxes could choose between a cage with an unobstructed view and a cage with a partially obstructed view. Both blue foxes and silver foxes spent a smaller percentage of their daily active time in the cage with the obstructed view than in the cage with the unobstructed view. They almost exclusively preferred the cage with the unobstructed view as a resting site. Obstructed/unobstrueted View is a key feature of the cage environment that should be taken into consideration when designing housing systems for farmed foxes.