The Fenugreek Or Desert Fox
The desert fenugreek or fox is the smallest of the canids. It’s a perfect example of adapting to the environment: everything in your body, in your diet and in your behavior is prepared to help you survive in the desert, one of the most extreme habitats on the planet.
Characteristics of Fenugreek
Fenugreek is a breed of fox that lives in North Africa and extends to the Sinai Peninsula. It is the smallest type of fox in existence. It weighs between 600 grams and 1.5 kilos, and its height is only 21 centimeters, despite reaching 40 centimeters in length due to its large tail.
As we’ve already said, with the exception of some extremely small dog breeds such as chihuahuas or pinschers, this is the smallest dog in existence.
The most striking feature of the fenugreek are their large ears, which are disproportionate compared to the size of the rest of the body. These exaggerated ears serve to radiate body heat and thus stay cool even in desert temperatures.
Likewise, their paws are covered with long, thick hair to protect themselves from the hot sand and thus prevent burns. He also uses them to dig the sand and build his burrows.
Fennels are cream colored, which allows them to camouflage themselves in desert sand. The chest, belly and bottom of the tail are lighter in color, while the tip of the tail is black. Its fur is thick and helps protect it from solar radiation during the day and warms it up at night.
Fenugreek behavior
This class of foxes lives in small family herds: they form couples for life and the parents live with their young. Some, when they grow up, leave the “home”, and others stay a few more months with the group.
They are nocturnal animals. They leave the den at nightfall and spend the day underground, protected from the heat and sun of the desert. These animals dig their burrows themselves and may even create burrow tunnels connected to each other.
Their huge ears are not just for regulating body temperature. His hearing is very keen and allows him to hear prey beneath the ground. Like many other foxes, it hunts by jumping in surprise on its prey, but its ear plays a key role. Fenugreek can also dig to find prey.
Fennel feeding
Like many other foxes, the fenugreek is omnivorous and opportunistic: it feeds on what it finds in each moment and, at times, it can hunt. Their diet is based on insects, rabbits or small birds, but they can also eat eggs, herbs or fruits.
This canid is so well adapted to the desert that it hardly needs water. The fluids you get from the plants and fruits you find are enough, as you have a digestive system that allows you to take advantage of all the fluids. Even so, as a good opportunist, when he finds an oasis, he doesn’t waste the chance to drink water.
Fenugreek Habitat
The fenugreek habitat extends across North Africa and reaches as far as Asia. They can be seen from the Atlantic coast of Morocco to the Sinai Peninsula.
However, there are more specimens of these animals in the Sahara desert, especially in the Algerian regions. The southernmost territory where we can find desert foxes is on the northern border of Niger.
Unfortunately, it is noteworthy that the destruction of their habitat poses the greatest threat to these canids. Despite this, the species is not on the list of those in danger of extinction.
Fenugreek is the smallest breed of fox that exists, and also the smallest among canids. However, it is a great example of complete adaptation to the environment in which it lives: its color, its food and even its exaggerated physical characteristics make it possible to live in a habitat as hostile as the desert.
