~Entry for 's Elements contest~

Species: Firefox

Element: Fire

Description:

The firefox is a small species of canine, rarely sighted and highly endangered. Their brightly-marked fur is completely flame-retardant, as is their surprisingly thick skin. However, their dark fur exudes an oil that is flammable, leaving them with their signature burning tail and eartips. It does not hurt them in the least, and is in fact their only defense mechanism.

Since the oil is continuously produced, once lit, their fire will never go out until their death. They can live without it, but with great difficulty, as it is how they hunt and protect themselves.

They can not control their fire, they simply carry it. They will wave their flexible tail to ward off predators, and use it to singe the spines off of cacti, their meal of choice. They also dine on insects that are lured to their fire, and small rodents.

Threats:

There are few natural predators that will approach despite their fire, but certain felines and birds of prey have been known to carry off a firefox. However, their main threat comes from those who seek their attractive and useful fur.

The oil-soaked tails are highly sought-after for lanterns and heating lamps, and the flame-retardant fur can be used for gloves or other traveler's gear. They have since been hunted almost to extinction, and since they have such small litters, the species is currently very threatened.

Reproduction:

Firefoxes generally live in mating pairs, and only come into heat once a year. Their gestation period, much like their cousin the fennec fox, is about fifty days. They have small litters, always less than four kits. The kits will not have the oil glands necessary for fire until they reach sexual maturity, which takes between six to eleven months. The mother thus knows when to kick her young out, when her tail fire ignites theirs for the first and only time. Their striped patterns are always subtly different for each individual.

<sub>This is my first entry for the Elements contest, obviously under the 'fire' subcategory. Fire makes me think of desert, so I went with a desert fox theme and invented their stats as I worked on the image. I hope she represents her element well!

I used exactly 25 different coloured pencils to create this image, as well as Micron pens for the ink. I meant to scan the lineart, but I forgot to... :/ She took me all day to finish. Enjoy! I haven't designed an elemental critter since I worked on MagePaw (years ago...). I forgot how much I love this.</sub>