Some people believe farmed foxes prefer earthen floors over wire mesh floors.
The belief being animals prefer a more natural environment to a man made one. Early preference tests had mixed results. Silver foxes spent equal amounts of time on wire mesh and solid floors in some experiments, while in others they showed a preference for sand and in others the foxes spent more time on wire mesh given the choice. Silver foxes could choose between four cages each with a different type of flooring. The first experiment ran from mid-February to early March when the wet sand floor was frozen, hence icy sand.