Red Fox
The red fox opens and closes the chapter as the central metaphor for territorial defense optimization.
The red fox opens and closes the chapter as the central metaphor for territorial defense optimization. A suburban London fox maintains 0.3 square miles while a rural Scotland fox maintains 3.8 square miles - 12× larger. Both territories contain exactly enough resources to support one fox; the difference is resource density.
The suburban fox patrols boundaries every 6 hours, scent-marks every 200 feet, detects intrusions within 30 minutes - total defensive investment 15% of daily energy. The rural fox patrols every 3 days, marks every 2,000 feet, detects intrusions after 8 hours - defensive investment 17% of energy. Despite 12× size difference, defensive costs are nearly identical. Neither strategy is universally better; each is optimized for its environment's resource density.
Notable Traits of Red Fox
- Territory size adapts to resource density
- Defensive intensity remains constant (~15-17%) regardless of territory size
- Calculates continuously and adjusts territory when defense exceeds 20% of value