Black foxes and cross foxes

A black fox has reportedly been spotted in a graveyard in Britain for the first time in modern history. By legend the animals are black "so they can live in a man's shadow and never be seen."

A BBC video of the discovery is HERE, but note: Gaelic tradition holds that a black fox "brings doom and disaster to anyone who does see it."

Frankly, it seems that it's more unlucky to BE a black fox; the man who spotted this one has been offered 1000 pounds to reveal its location. That apparently is not a new state of affairs:

The Black Fox enjoys the distinction of having the highest price on his head of any fur-bearer. It is not uncommon for extra fine skins to sell in this country at from $600 to $1200.

It's especially notable that the prices quoted above were in 1924 U.S. dollars.

While reading up on this subject, I discovered that there are also "cross foxes" (lower image above):

In addition to the red version, there is a "silver" phase, where the fox is basically solid black with some white grizzling on the back and sides. There is also a cross fox, which is a black fox with red-tipped hairs. Solid black foxes also naturally exist. These three color variations mainly exist in North America, and are rare elsewhere. Farm raised red foxes have even more coat variations. Some can be pure white with some grey markings, and some are golden with black ticking all over. The all-white variety has a normal eye color. These are not natural variations, and can only be seen in a fox farm..

... and finally this tidbit: One notable aspect of Vulpes foxes is their eyes are vertical slits, just like those of the domestic cat and other felinae cats, as opposed to the rounded pupils of other canids.

Image credits here and here.