Vixen is a beautiful red fox who appears in the books and the TV series. She joins the group of animals from Farthing Wood during their journey to White Deer Park as Fox's mate, having met him while he was separated from the rest of the group. Vixen is very wise and is often consulted by Fox before he makes important decisions for the group. She is also very caring, often having kind words for the other animals when they need comforting.
Vixen also acts as the narrator during the third series.
Books[]
The Animals of Farthing Wood[]
Vixen first meets Fox when he rests in one of her burrows while he is searching for his lost friends. They later go hunting together and Vixen agrees to stay with Fox until he finds his friends. Instantly falling in love, Fox wishes Vixen to be his mate, and she says that she will decide on this along the way. When the other animals' scent becomes divided, the foxes split up to search in both directions. Vixen soon realizes that she has gone the wrong way and decides that she wants to stay with Fox for good, so she quickly heads the other way towards him.
On the way back towards Fox she becomes aware that the hunt is coming after her, so she heads into a wood and runs all over the place to confuse the hounds and heads towards the exit on the other side, but it is blocked by another part of the hunt. This part of the hunt is soon lured away by Fox and Vixen is able to escape, but while she is running up the hill towards Fox the hunt master bears down on her and is about to strike, until Adder appears and saves her by sinking his teeth into the hunt master's horse. After this Vixen becomes Fox's mate and joins the other animals on their journey.
For the rest of the journey Fox consults her on several decisions and she gives him good advice on what the animals should do in certain situations, such as when they become trapped in the church. At the end of the journey, she safely arrives at White Deer Park with the majority of the other animals.
Fox and Vixen with their cubs
In the Grip of Winter[]
Vixen suffers from the lack of food during the winter, but not as much as Fox who ensures that she gets the majority of whatever they find. When Badger returns from The Warden's lodge and suggests that the animals all go to live there, Vixen tells the others she is sure that he will soon come to his senses and return to live with them. She also comforts Mole when he becomes upset about Badger's coldness towards him. After Ginger Cat's attack by Kestrel, Vixen tends to the cat's injuries and invites him to share their meal later on, but he leaves before she and Fox return from hunting.
Vixen forms part of the sentry during Fox's plan to get rid of the poachers and runs off to the pond to watch the plan unfold. Although the plan appears to succeed, Vixen worries that the poachers may return to get their revenge on Fox. When they do return Vixen comes up with a plan to lead the poachers to the Warden's lodge, which Fox successfully puts into action. After Toad leaves the park, Vixen is the first to discover that he has been captured in a jam jar and Whistler eventually manages to rescue him.
Vixen with Friendly.
Fox's Feud[]
Vixen has four cubs during the spring and they are named Bold, Charmer, Dreamer and Friendly. When they are old enough she takes them out of the earth and teaches them to hunt, but a heavily territorial fox called Scarface is watching them and tries to attack them, so Vixen tells her cubs to run back to the earth. She helps Bold to fight off Scarface, but Dreamer has gone missing and is later found dead by Fox, her body having been brutally savaged by Scarface. When Bold goes missing in Scarface's territory, Vixen and the other cubs accompany Fox to look for him, but Fox insists that they all stay behind when they reach Scarface and his clan.
Vixen is very understanding when Charmer starts seeing Ranger and gives her daughter the opportunity to explain the situation to her and Fox. Vixen is worried when Fox decides to challenge Scarface to single combat and tries to talk him out of it, but she soon realizes that he will not change his mind and lets him go. After Scarface's death, Vixen agrees with Whistler's suggestion that the animals should pair themselves off with the park's inhabitants and hopes that Bold and Friendly follow Charmer's lead by finding mates for themselves.
The Fox Cub Bold[]
Vixen only appears near the end of this book, when Charmer informs her and Fox of Whisper's arrival at the park. When Whisper tells them that Bold is dying, Vixen and her family leave the park to find him and are informed of his whereabouts by Robber. Before Bold dies, Vixen nuzzles him with tenderness and assures him that they will keep watch for Whisper and bring her food when necessary.
Vixen and Fox mourn the death of Bold.
The Siege of White Deer Park[]
Vixen appears several times during the spring and gives her advice to Fox as she always does. After Husky is captured by The Beast, Vixen realizes that Badger has gone to offer himself to the cat so she rushes off to stop him. She beats Badger to the copse only to discover that Husky has already been killed. When Fox decides that action must be taken against the Beast, Vixen is much more cautious and hopes that the Warden will be able to catch the cat before any more lives are lost.
In the Path of the Storm[]
Vixen appears several times alongside Fox and gives her opinions on the situations the animals are facing, giving advice and showing concern for the other animals as usual. She shows great concern for Badger after he drinks from the stream and has his confrontation with Trey, but she disagrees with his idea that they should try and convince the stag to drink from the stream himself. She appears at the meeting of elders to discuss the problem with Trey and is also one of the animals who makes the trip to the pond to show Trey that he cannot stop them from drinking there.
Battle for the Park[]
Vixen joins Fox on the rescue party to try and release Weasel and Plucky from the second reserve, and is also part of the hunting party that tries to drive the rats out of the Farthing Wood animals' corner of the reserve. After the death of Toad at the hands of the rat leader, Bully, Vixen covers him up and hides him from view, then promises to get revenge on the creature that made him suffer. During the final battle, after the park's other inhabitants have arrived to help the Farthing Wood animals fight the rats, Vixen pursues Bully and crushes him in her jaws, then throws his body over the boundary fence.
Role in the TV series[]
Series 1[]
She first appeared in New Friends, Old Enemies after Fox had been swept away in the previous episode. She invites him to hunt with her after noticing him resting in her earth exhausted and hungry. In the next episode, she agrees to lead him back to his friends, but they get chased by a fox hunter. Despite her best at outwitting the hunt and even with Fox helping her out, she was almost whipped by the hunt master and saved at the last second by Adder. They become mates at the end of the episode after Fox proves his worthiness to her.
She stays with them even after reaching White Deer Park, which she is pregnant with cubs.
Series 2[]
She has a larger role in season 2 than in season 1, they begin having the safety of the cubs threatened with the cold winter, and Scarface beginning to kill their friends, beginning with Mrs Vole and Mrs Hare.
In the spring, despite losing several more friends, Vole, Mole and Fieldmouse, the surviving animals are happy to be raising their children, Bold, Dreamer, Charmer, Friendly and Mossy. But the blue foxes have also had cubs: Bounder, Ranger, and Trip, who is born dead.
Vixen is angered for the first time when her daughter, Dreamer, despite not having a single scratch on her, is believed to have been killed by Scarface out of jealousy for her own cubs being "better" than his cubs. That is when her son, Bold strays into the blue foxes' land to avenge the death of his sister, but is captured, and quickly escapes. Vixen is the first to meet him back at their earth, by saying this: "Your father and brother have gone into danger for nothing." But they both return safely.
Her role drops until Episode 25: Blood Is Thicker Than Water and Episode 26: Reconciliation when Bold returns to the park.
Near the end of the second series, Crow leads her and Fox to Bold, and they say their goodbyes before he dies. She's shown to be the most distraught about her son's passing, still wailing over his body even when Charmer and Ranger arrive to see what has happened.
Series 3[]
Vixen is the primary narrator to the audience in the final season, with her previous role being filled by Charmer, who is believed to be carrying Ranger's cubs.
Both her and Fox have aged greatly in the three years between Series 2 and Series 3, showing it in how often they are seen sleeping, and in their face.
While Charmer, Ranger and Whisper are off killing the rats, it is believed that she was either resting, or asleep during most of the raid.
She is seen briefly in most of the episodes up to the final: Bully-Bully-Bully, which she has a larger role than in the first twelve episodes.
She is last seen at the end of the episode watching her mate walk off to explore the new part of the park with Trey.
Physical Appearance[]
Vixen is a beautiful female fox, with a darker red colouring than Fox's dark orange colouring. She displays the typical "ruff" that vixens have, though hers is on the back of her neck unlike the other red vixens in the series. Around her eyes are white patches with the points at the back facing downwards, and her cheek patches (which come in at a point about halfway up her muzzle) do not connect with the white-coloured fur on her underbelly - the latter ends in a round curve. The underside of her tail is also white.
Appearances[]
Books
- The Animals of Farthing Wood
- In the Grip of Winter
- Fox's Feud
- The Fox Cub Bold
- The Siege of White Deer Park
- In the Path of the Storm
- Battle for the Park
TV series
Gallery[]
