A COMPARISON OF THE USE OF RESTING PLATFORMS AND NEST BOXES IN GROWING FARMED SILVER FOXES (VULPES-VULPES)

The use of the interior and roof of a nest box and the use of various types of resting platform were studied in 50 juvenile silver foxes (Vu lpes vulpes) of both sexes housed singly in traditional fox cages meas uring 115 x 105 x 70 cm (L x W x H). The experiment was carried out fr om early July to the end of December, The use of the nest boxes and pl atforms by the silver foxes was video-recorded for one 24-h period in August, October and December. Furthermore, the use of these furnishing s was observed 14 times per week for the whole experiment by a person walking past the experimental cages in the daytime. The video recordin gs showed that silver foxes spent an average of 2.0 +/- 2.7% (median 1 .3%) of their daily time in the nest boxes, The foxes were observed in the nest boxes in 0.9 +/- 2.7% (median 0.3%) of the direct daytime ob servations. The average use of the platforms and the roof of the nest box (i.e., one type of platform) varied from 24 to 84% of daily time a nd from 17 to 92% of the daytime observations depending on the month a nd the platform or cage type. The roof of the nest box was used more t han platforms of corresponding shape and size, and the use of the roof decreased less in the course of autumn than the use of the platforms. This was possibly due to the nest box obstructing the view from the c age floor and restricting the free floor area of the cage. In the earl y winter, the silver foxes preferred the flat and wide platform to a n arrower platform with a slightly u-shaped bottom. This may be due to t he wider platforms enabling the foxes to assume more easily the curled resting posture typical in cold weather. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science B. V. All rights reserved.