Isn't having a dog good enough? (Warning, super-cute picture)

[Archae]

Something else about foxes not mentioned in the article, Foxes really stink.



February 8, 2005

Young foxes, or kits, scamper in a cage in Siberia, Russia, where they are part of a 45-year research project to domesticate foxes. Each generation has been selectively bred for tameness, fearlessness and nonaggression toward humans. By now the foxes in the project behave like pet dogs, barking and wagging their tails at humans.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0208_050208_foxes.html

[FizzFuzz]

1. they're adorable!!!!!!!!

speaking of stinky, my cats have really stunk up the house and I am UPSET....

ok I digressed.

I want one of those cuties!
(actually, no, I don't think I support that kind of tampering with nature. I dunno. Just seems unnecessary and to what good end? I'd rather see research on how to breed hate and lieing and violence out of humans!)

[ET Awful]

2. I don't really object to it. The original species still remains in the

wild.

Dogs were domesticated the same way, it just wasn't on such an accelerated basis.

I'll take a couple, I think they'd be awesome pets :)

[FizzFuzz]

3. yeah, I don't really have a good explanation for feeling funny about it...

they sure are cute though!!

Did I mention my cats are pissing everywhere and I am at the END of MY ROPE??

oh, scuse me, I outbursted again.

;)

[CatWoman]

7. Quinn will not only kick your ass out

but the pups as well :D

[Ellen Forradalom]

8. Breeding aggression out of humans

now that's a worthwhile project.

[Hans Delbrook]

4. Uh, I hate to break this to you but

Russians don't domesticate foxes to have them for pets . The use them as a source of fur. Wahh.

[ET Awful]

5. Actually, I saw this on Animal Planet not too long ago. . .

originally fur was the plan, but what happened is that as they bred for the other traits, the fur color became unacceptable for use, so they pursued the domestication instead.

[DELUSIONAL]

9. This research is fascinating -- I've read the original journal

articles.

Amazing the changes in behavior and coat color when only one trait was selected for.

Behavior researchers also bred wild rats for one behavioral trait -- tameness and found that the coat color and other physiological traits were linked to aggression.

The question is -- what if humans were bred for non aggressive traits? Selectively bred for several generations?

Also -- the male sex ratio increases during wars.

[zbdent]

6. The one on the left must be the evil twin

. . . (our left)