Lil’ Fox Junior here was born at Mississippi State University, at their Wildlife Center. Why is it that it seems (not sure) all baby mammals start with blue eyes—then the blue eyes may or may not change color? Is this true?
AP Photo by Russ Houston, sent in by eagle-eyed reader Richfield M.
{ 46 comments }
What kind of fox do we have here?? It’s not a red fox…
(Foxes are nature’s compromise between cats and dogs. So say I.)
Wow! I’m first up! Woo hoo!
All baby mammals aren’t born eith blue eyes as far as I know- baby humans are mammals, and they aren’t always born with blue eyes.
Loving the fuzz and the chunky little ears!
Looks like a Silver Fox:
http://sybilsden.com/images/imgfox/thelma.jpg
Silver fox??? THAT’S cool.
Looks adorabilly cuddly.
Babies often have blue eyes because the melanin in their irises isn’t fully developed. Light-skinned babies are more likely to have baby blues than darker skinned babies, ’cause the darker skinned babies have more melanin to begin with.
Cute foxy! Did you know that foxes have been domesticated as pets in Russia?
It’s true not all mammals are born with blue eyes, but it does seem like the options are limited, and lots of them are, and later their eyes change.
My guess, it has something to do with being born with very little pigment, or without certain kinds of pigment, and that pigment manifests later. Sort of the same way dalmatians are born without spots?
I was born with that kind of generic milky blue-gray eye color, and my sister’s eyes were darn near black. Now mine are a quite different greenish blue-gray, and my sister’s are a coffee brown. *Shrug* My uninformed guess.
Wow, that’s one foxy little guy (snicker).
That is the cutest little foxy ! He doesn’t look to happy to be in the pocket though….awwww!
according to the news article it is a gray fox whatever it is it darn cute
Wow, I don’t know if I’ve seen a baby fox before, he sure is snuggly cute! I love the pretty blue eyes!
Blue-eyed explanation:
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/howthingswork/f/eyecolor.htm
*lazy* saturday…!
awwwww! my baby kitteh’s eyes changed, but i have another kitteh who’s eyes are permanently blue. that fox… just wanna snorgle the fuzziness!
Oooh! I know, I know!
Sorta.
Most baby mammals are born with blue eyes, because the melanin hasn’t been deposited in their irises yet. That happens over time.
Here’s a brief article from National Geographic about the tame Russian foxes…it’s a fascinating study about domestication and genetics! Oh, and with cute baby foxes, too. One of them reminds me of Rodrigue’s Blue Dog! http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/02/0208_050208_foxes.html
i dont know
but cute!!
I hope woever’s wearing him as a pocket hanky doesn’t foget and mop up a sneeze with him.
Just a beautiful little guy, and so sweet! Look at that face!!!
Man, bad typing when I’m tire: I hope *whoever’s* wearing him as a pocket hanky doesn’t *forget* and mop up a sneeze with him.
Griselda, those little foxes in the article you posted are absolutely ADORABLE.
Ohh, I want a baby blue eyed fox for a pet..
and I want it NOW!
I Luvs Foxes!! I love red ones and silver ones and arctic ones and grey ones and swift ones and bat eared ones and especially especially fennic ones! Fennic foxes are the cuuuuutest! Theres a pic here http://touregypt.net/lakenasserfishing/fennic.jpg
I just want to snorgle him.
I saw this on my Yahoo! news photos! Foxes are THEE best! I lof them! They’re anerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrable! Ok, I stop now.
I saw this on my Yahoo! news photos! Foxes are THEE best! I lof them! They’re anerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrable! Ok, I stop now.
baby humans are mammals, and they aren’t always born with blue eyes.
maddamesmartypants WRONG-O all humans are born with blue eyes and they may change color as they get older [and fyi, Theo was first]
Although not all humans are first born with blue eyes, it is quite common for blue eyes to change to a darker color as the baby gets older. Wouldn’t be surprised if it happened in the animal world too!
and Theo, i think that might be true ^_^ they look like it red foxes look like german sheapherd+marmelade kitty=fox!
Darn, I sent in the same pic but I don’t see *my* name up there. Hmmpphh. What am I, chopped liver??
Sorry, double post.
Those who say that ALL humans are born with blue eyes seem to be excluding most people of African, Asian and Native American descent.
Plus, my brother and I were born with our dark brown eyes, and we’re as Anglo as you can get.
Hmmm. This one looks like an arctic fox. They are intensely cute, and can be pretty funny in nature
Blue eyes are usually more “fragile,” biologically, so you can imagine why a developing animal would have them.
And you don’t want a fox in your house. They really are more beautiful in the wild where they live up to that saying: smart as a fox.
…well that, and their pee is even stronger than normal animal pee.
Foxes are some of the most beautiful of animals. There is a wild one around my sister’s house. It keeps the mice and other small four legged pest in control. It is sort of a pesky pet-Woods Walker
And they have (strong) scent glands in their tail. And they will attempt to make a DEN in your COUCH. They are truely awesome though.
Heck, sometimes *I* make a den out of our couch. Except then I have to give it back to the pets for their Imperial Court.
Hey.
I published at what must have been the same moment as Theo- there were no posts when I started writing my posts. Therefore, I thought I was first.
But I looked for evidence that all humans are born with blue eyes- according to numerous sites I found through Google that cited scientific info, it’s not true. Plenty of humans are born with brown and black eyes. In fact, from the sound of it, most of them are, because most humans don’t come from Europe or other parts of the world where people are born with a low amount of melanin. While one can be mostly African, Asian, Amerind or of Australian extraction and be born with blue eyes, it’s a lot less likely. Primarily it happens among people who are primarily from Northern, Eastern and Western Europe- and people from those areas do not make up most of the world’s population. Even many people in Southern Europe have a lot of melanin at birth.
Theo: ok, you can make a den out of the couch, but do you also have strong scent glands in your tail??
On second thought, dont’ answer that. TMI : P
I used to take care of baby foxes at a nature center. They cry almost just like human babies. It it HEARTbreaking. I wish I’d had a big pocket to put them in!
I’m with madamesmartypants. The vast majority of Indian people (of which I am one) are born with brown eyes.
I have to say that the way some posters used “all people” and “all white people” as though they were synonyms just seemed…well, very white of them.
No Meg, you’re kinda right. I read somewhere that ALL humans are born with either blue or brown/black eyes which gradually change colour.
Sooooo cute, btw.
oh, BTW, I’m Indian, and my eyes were blacker than black when I was a joey. (sightly browner now …)
Oh, and I said ‘joey’ coz ‘baby’ graduates from descriptive term to pick-up line as you get older. (As in “How ya doin’, baby?”)
BTW- I’m not denying eye color changes after time. But saying that ALL babies are born with blue eyes is incorrect.With blue, black, or brown eyes? Yes.
However, far more babies are born with brown and blue eyes than with blue eyes. The contention was over whether human babies are born with eyes of any color other than blue- they usually are. Blue eyes at birth happen frequently- but at nowhere near the same rate as brown or black. It wouldn’t even be as high as ‘often’, except in certain parts of the world where the alleles make that more likely. In those places it might even feel like it’s ‘all the time’ or ‘often’, but only if one ignores or is not exposed to human diversity. Sorry to get so picky- but I’m an anthropologist.
But back to snorgling the anerable little foxy…
zoozoo, thanks, now I have to move to Russia!
Their eyes don’t start out blue, they have no pigmentation in the eyes right away, then it forms. The ‘blue’ is just a reflection off of the cornea. same goes for human babies!
I’m pretty sure he’s an arctic pup. they start out dark like that, despite season, and then get lighter later on. they’re also all born with blue eyes. that’s afaik.
Comments on this entry are closed.