awwwwwwwww uber cute

That face~

So cute!

The cuteness of this picture blows through all scales I envy you to no end for being able to be so close to an animal like this. Not long ago I had an encounter with a wild fox, where he (or she, who knows) just sat there for a minute or so and kept eye contact with me. Then he (or she) left, but I was mesmerized. What beautiful creatures

SOOOO damn right in every aspect!

you've managed to pet a fox? oh my god i envy you so much

This guy owns one of the domestic russian foxes, actually.

I bet my pics would do the same to you as well

Awww, nothing like a tummyrub. So cute.

I really hope the Institute can work out their foxes' male phobia in the next few years...

I don't think this will change in the near future. But if they want to continue to sell them, they MUST change that! The behavior towards men and woman is radically different. They cannot propagate them as "pets for everyone" when they in fact are "pets for women only". In my case, I can handle her a BIT better then other men, but still ... she barely allows petting, while other strangers (women) can pet her instantly!!!

I highly suggest letting the Institute know directly. They really need to be aware of this issue, because while the two males at the Austin Zoo (the failed Sibfox imports) were friendly enough towards everyone (hard to say for sure, but I got finger nibbles, and no shyness, but they'd been around people for about 2 weeks prior) they are males and I will only own a vixen. And the other vixen I know of, Anya, reacts similarly judging from the things I've heard. On the other side, Manya in Tossie's original video seems very friendly towards him. So it's possibly just a problem that has a varied result that they don't know IS a problem. Or it's an issue of testosterone or some other hormone with the males that are interacting.

But yes, do let the Institute know that their testing is biased towards women and needs to have testing done with a variety of male subjects as WELL as the usual female ones.

I think tossie got Manya (and Dima) at a younger age, guessing from the pictures of her as a cub. And also, in that video, it was very warm (he said that in the video description) It looks more like she was simply too lazy to run off. I can actually do the same petting with Dasha, after she is exhausted from running around, but ONLY when it's warm enough. Right now, in the cold winter days, she not even pants after running and has plenty of energy and "skittishness" left to avoid my petting. But not always! Sometimes, as seen in my video, I can pet her for minutes. And finally, neither Manya nor Dima were excited to see the MALE person entering the enclosure, while Anya and Dasha totally freak out (in a positive way) as soon as they see a woman entering the enclosure. Yes, I deeply analyzed that issue using every video available to compare Dasha to Anya. And it's also a matter of personality because I noticed that Dasha (at the institute) was NOT happy to be picked up – from a female person! She has a general problem with being hold. I guess we have to wait for summer to see how she reacts when it's warm outside…

Well to answer that, i got Manya and Dima when they were already 9/10 months old, this due some bullcrap with import and such.
Manya simply explained was extremly friendly towards everyone, she enjoyed petting regardless of gender, however i do see your point regarding to Elga, even tho she will play fetch/tag with me.
Dima on the other hand comes when called and will sit and allows me to pet/groom him, i can't tell if this is because of him being male or not, seeing he will only do this with me as he still avoids strangers.

Thanks for clarification as I wasn't sure about Manya's age when you got her. As I said, personality plays a certain role. Interesting that males seems to be more "calm" around human males. So, Elga behaves the same like Dasha and Anya then? To be honest, I don't know how on earth Renee was able to hold Dasha! She struggles like hell when someone holds her, no matter if man or woman. She actually never holds still when near humans, even not when woman pet her…