There's nothing more enduring than uber-cute red fox cubs Vulpes vulpes playing in the sun and these videos capture their nature and character.
Many cubs will have been born in early spring on the bare floor of earths excavated in woodland or railway banks, under garden sheds or even in disused badger setts.
For the first month or so of their lives, the young foxes are dark brown with striking blue eyes, but gradually their colour changes, beginning with white patches around the muzzle and a dark streak through the eye.
By the time they are six weeks old, the cubs are beginning to lose their snub noses and develop longer, foxier faces. At this age, the chocolate-brown hair has been replaced by fluffy, reddish-brown fur, but two months later, new shinier guard hairs give them the sleeker, altogether more dashing appearance of the adults.
When the cubs are a month or so old, they explore the area close to their earth and are fed by their mother, who also brings back playthings such as scraps of material. As they grow larger and more demanding, the vixen will sometimes hunt well into the day - if you're lucky, the impatient cubs may appear near the burrow mouth, especially at dawn or dusk.
Here they experiment in catching insects and earthworms. As summer progresses, they accompany their mother on hunting expeditions further afield and slowly gain their independence.
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