A Red Fox Vulpes vulpes dog fox and a subordinate vixen are shown having a fight. Such encounters may be noisy, but there is rarely any serious violence involved, as this is an exercise in asserting status, either within a social group (as was the case on this occasion) or between rivals from different social groups, in which case the fight might have been more protracted. The smaller vixen was no match for the larger and heavier dog fox in this catchweight contest, and as soon as he had made his point he backed off and curled up for a rest. Often, sufficient signals of appeasement will be offered by a subordinate to avoid physical contact, involving body-language, facial expressions and vocalisations. No biting was involved, and this dog fox is usually very placid. The two animals reared up, placed their forepaws on their opponent's chest and bared their teeth, but notice that they were careful not to injure one another. There is often a lot of screaming, so the fights may appear to be far more serious to the human ear than is actually the case. These two animals know each other very well, but their social hierarchy needs to be maintained. The vixen's sister, one of a litter of seven born during the previous year, is the primary mate of the dog fox, although he has also mated with her mother - the father of this litter was a six-year old, injured, male that he had dispossessed of the territory during the previous December, so there is no risk of incest. This vixen didn't produce any cubs, but she did assist (with her sister) in looking after them. Dominance may switch when a vixen has cubs, and dog foxes (including this one) are often very good fathers.