If you are familiar with the Blackadder tv series, you'll know there's a running joke about Baldrick and his cunning plans. In the last episode of the series, there's a scene thats goes:

Baldrick: I have a plan, sir.

Blackadder: Really, Baldrick. A cunning and subtle one?

Baldrick: Yes, sir.

Blackadder: As cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University?

Baldrick: Yes, sir.

I used to think this was pretty funny, but now I'm not so sure. We don't see many foxes in Melbourne, so the only real knowledge I had about foxes came from tv and books (such as Roald Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox). I don't know where this "cunning" reputation came from. However, one thing I do know is this: foxes are one of the dumbest animals I've ever seen.

I started thinking about foxes last week, after I almost hit one with my car. It was dusk, I was doing about 70 or 80 along a fairly open road, and a fox "walked" in front of my car. Yes, walked. It just ambled out onto the road, completely oblivious to me and everything else that was going on around it. Even as I screamed to a halt just a metre or so from the fox, it barely even looked at me. It just wandered across the road and into the bushes.

After this incident, I started noticing more foxes. I assume they are appearing because the weather is changing. The snow is melting and the days are warmer.

In the last week I've seen about 5 or 6 of them wandering around (always wandering slowly, never running). One day, I happened to have my camera with me when I saw a fox sitting in the middle of a field enjoying the midday sun. Again, this fox was completely oblivious to everything that was going on around it.


Why are foxes so dumb? Cats, dogs (well, most dogs) , birds, and even deer have a basic idea that the road is a dangerous place to be. Most of these animals seem to recognise that cars are bad, so if one is coming they should get out of the way. They also realise that if they need to cross the road it's a good idea to hurry across. However, from what I have seen, foxes don't have this skill. When foxes cross the road, they cross at their own pace. When cars come, they completely ignore them. In fact, a few times I have seen foxes walking down the middle of the road. Once was in my town. The fox was wandering down the middle of the main street, completely oblivious to the cars and trucks that were passing by. The other time was on a main road in the mountains. It was near a famous gorge, so there was a lot of tourist traffic. The fox wandered into the middle of the road, sat down and started to take a nap. Needless to say, the passing drivers were not too impressed.

Anyway, the point of this blog entry was to let everyone who doesn't regularly see foxes know the truth. Foxes are dumb.