5 things players didn't know about foxes in Minecraft

Minecraft is full of several little critters and peaceful mobs. One fan-favorite peaceful mob is the fox.

Foxes were added to Minecraft in the 1.14 update. Ever since then, these furry orange creatures have gained a reputation. Minecraft players love these mobs and have made statues and whole builds dedicated to them. The way these mobs jump and steal items has also become a bit of a meme in the Minecraft community.

Even though foxes are loved by the Minecraft community, there may still be some fun facts that players don't know about these creatures. Here are a few things players may not know about foxes in Minecraft.

5 facts players might not know about foxes in Minecraft

#1 - Sleeping habits

Minecraft fox sleeping under a tree (Image via Reddit)

Foxes are one of the few mobs that sleep in Minecraft. The only other mobs that sleep in Minecraft are cats, bats, and villagers.

Foxes have very peculiar sleeping habits. They're nocturnal creatures and sleep during the day instead of the night. They always have to sleep at a light level under 14, otherwise, they'll wake up. Foxes are also the only mob to sleep with their eyes closed.

If a player or mob gets too close to foxes while they're sleeping, they will immediately wake up. This may mean that foxes are light sleepers.

Foxes are also notorious for picking up dropped player items. Players would be discouraged to know that foxes can pick up these items even in their sleep. Foxes are mischievous as always.

#2 - Stealing items

This mischievous creature is known to steal player items. Foxes can pick up virtually any item in Minecraft, including a sword.

When foxes pick up a totem of undying and die with it in their mouths, they're actually resurrected. Players should be sure not to drop their totems around these pets.

#3 - Fox spawning quarks

Foxes spawn in the taiga, giant tree taiga, and snowy taiga biomes. They also spawn in two different color variations, those being orange and white.

Foxes can actually spawn into Minecraft with items in their mouths. These items include:

• Emeralds
• Rabbit's foot and hides
• Egg
• Wheat
• Leather
• Feathers

It's most common for foxes to spawn with leather and feathers in their mouths.

Baby variants of foxes also naturally spawn into Minecraft. These baby variants are called kits. They're smaller, but still act the same as regular foxes. Kits will follow adult foxes around until they grow older.

If a player breeds two adult foxes, the kit will trust the player and defend it against enemies.

#4 - Behavior

Foxes have a variety of wild behaviors, some of which include screeching during the middle of the night and sitting when brought in the Nether.

Foxes will attack any hostile mob that attacks a trusted player except for pandas and wolves. Foxes will always run away from pandas and wolves, as the two mobs hunt foxes down.

Orange foxes and white foxes have different hunting preferences. Orange foxes prefer to hunt land creatures like chickens and rabbits. White foxes prefer to hunt aquatic creatures like salmon and other fish variants. This is because of where these different fox colors spawned.

Orange foxes spawn in non-snowy taiga environments, and white foxes spawn in snowy taiga environments. It's safe to say that these different foxes prefer to eat different things based on where they were born.

#5 - Quirky Trivia

Foxes were actually added to Minecraft by the game's fans. The player base requested that foxes be added to Minecraft. Other mobs that were added to the game by fans were phantoms, glowing squid, and goats.

Foxes were the only mob in vanilla Minecraft that could jump more than a block high until the recent 1.17 announcement about goats.

When two adult foxes breed, their kit receives the average of their health points.

Baby foxes can die from drowning in water, as they're too small to swim.