Fox

## Fix

**Foxes** are nocturnal passive mobs that spawn commonly in taiga, giant tree taiga and snowy taiga biomes, which move to villages during night.

## Spawning

Foxes spawn in taiga, giant tree taiga, and snowy taiga biomes, and sometimes in taiga villages, in groups of 2–4. 5% of them spawn as babies.‌ When spawned in a snowy taiga biome, foxes are white in color. They spawn more commonly at night time, sleeping in the forests.

### Holding items

Adult foxes have a 20% chance to spawn with one of the following items in their mouth:

## Drops

Upon death, adult foxes drop 1–2 experience orbs when killed by a player or tamed wolf.

Like other baby animals, killing a baby fox yields no experience.

Foxes always drop any items they pick up and are still holding (they cannot drop food that they have eaten, for example) and drop items they spawn with naturally with a chance of 8.5%‌ or 100% ‌

If a fox is killed while holding a totem of undying, then the fox consumes the totem and revives itself instead of dropping the totem.

## Behavior

Foxes move quickly, about the same speed as ocelots, and they flee from any nearby players and wolves. They are completely unaffected by sweet berry bushes, taking no damage or speed reduction while moving in them. Breeding two adult foxes with sweet berries produces a baby fox that trusts the player. Naturally spawned baby foxes do not trust any players.

### Attacking

Foxes will attack chickens, rabbits, cod, salmon, tropical fish, and baby turtles on land. Foxes will also attack any mobs that hurt a player they trust. Foxes will attack either by running up to the target and dealing damage or pouncing. Foxes prepare to pounce by tilting and lowering their heads and lowering their body to become smaller. Then they then spring up, jumping into the air 2-3.5 blocks up. Foxes can jump over fences and walls. In *Bedrock Edition*, foxes also shake side to side before pouncing and their legs can also be seen waving around while midair.

Red foxes prefer to attack chickens, rabbits, and baby turtles, all of which are on land, over cod, salmon, and tropical fish; conversely, arctic foxes prefer to attack cod, salmon, and tropical fish over land-dwelling creatures.

If a fox pounces into a snow layer, they will become momentarily stuck, remaining face-down, emitting particles, and returning to normal shortly after.

Even if attached to a lead, foxes will attempt to run towards the closest attackable mob.

### Sleeping

During the day, if a thunderstorm isn't occurring, foxes attempt to find a space with a sky light level of 14 or less and sleep. Block light has no effect on this. While the fox sleeps, it slowly moves its head up and down. A fox wakes if approached by a player or mob. However, foxes do not move or run away if the player approaches while sneaking.

If the sky light at the fox's position becomes 15 (either due to a block above being destroyed or the fox being moved), the fox immediately wakes up.

Foxes can drop and pick up items in their sleep.

Trusting foxes can fall asleep even if attached to a lead.

Foxes do not sleep if they are within twelve blocks of an armor stand.

### Sitting

A fox also randomly sits down every so often, usually during the day if the fox cannot find a “shaded” area to sleep. The fox sits for only a moment, then hops back up. Foxes sometimes sit down even when attached to a lead.

### Holding items

If any item is on the ground near a fox, it travels to the item and picks it up, and the item appears in the fox's mouth. This behavior is not limited to food and animal products; they can pick up any item that the playercan pick up. However, they prefer to pick up food items (except cake), and if they have already picked up non-food items, they will drop the non-food items in favor of picking up food. A fox eventually eats any food item it picks up (besides cake) and the fox is affected by any side effects from the food, such as poison or teleportation. If there is a stage 3 or 4 sweet berry bush within a 16 block radius of a fox, it will sprint towards the bush and eat the berries, dropping the item it was holding. If a fox picks up a weapon or an item with enchantments, these items affect the fox's attack as if the fox is wielding the weapon in its main hand, although the item retains its durability when used by the fox. If a fox is holding a totem of undying and takes fatal damage, the totem is consumed and the fox is revived.

### Night life

During the night, foxes sometimes head to villages, where they can steal crops dropped from villagers. However, villagers tend to pick up their crops too quickly for foxes to pick up. Foxes can occasionally be found hidden around the houses, as they are easy to spot locked in houses and fallen in the wells.[*needs testing*]

During the night, foxes occasionally emit a screeching noise.

### Breeding

When sweet berries are used on two foxes, the foxes breed, producing a baby fox. The baby fox will trust the player that bred them and will not run away from that player, even after growing up. Note that the baby fox will continue to follow nearby adult foxes, so an adult running away from the player may cause the baby to do the same. A Lead can be useful during this time to keep the baby fox from fleeing until it has finished maturing to an adult itself.

Naturally spawned baby foxes do not trust the player, so it needs to grow up to then breed with another fox.

If a red fox is bred with a snowy fox, the baby has a 50% chance of being either red or snowy.

### Enemies

Wolves are aggressive towards foxes when within 18‌ blocks of them. In *Java Edition* Adult Polar bears also sneak towards foxes and attack them if they are close enough, in *Bedrock Edition* adult polar bears attack foxes within 16 blocks. In *Java Edition*, baby polar bears, though normally passive, also attempt to attack foxes within 16 blocks.