With people staying inside due to COVID-19, we're seeing a huge shift in the way animals interact with our cities. In the midst of seeing wild animals now roaming the streets, a rare melanistic fox was spotted in Salt Lake City.
Reddit
Rare Silver Fox Spotted In Downtown Salt Lake City
Melanism is a mutation some animals are born with that makes them develop 'dark pigmentation', which results in black skin or fur.
Wikimedia
It's the opposite of albinism, which results in white skin or fur. In some species, like squirrels, it's very common, but for foxes, it's rather rare.
And while some foxes are 'urban' and do live in cities, it's still not common to see one in broad daylight.
Wikimedia
Habitat loss and the ever-growing expansion of large cities are forcing more species like foxes to move inwards. However, foxes are nocturnal, meaning you're far more likely to see them roaming around at night.
A mix of these two uncommon occurances wound up with a black fox being spotted in the middle of the day in Salt Lake City.
Reddit | AGreatDebater
Someone was lucky enough to not only see it, but snap this amazing picture, so this rare event could be shared.
It seems the pandemic is not only changing how we live our lives, but the animal kingdom is getting used to it too.
Twitter | @okadennis
There's certainly been an uptick of animals wandering the usually human-populated streets, like these deer in Nara, Japan. While we're all stuck at home, the animal kingdom seems more than happy to take our place for now.
h/t: Reddit
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