The secret life of foxes: Clever, playful and caring – what these shrewd survival artists can teach us. Surprising and inspiring.
DIE WEISHEIT DER FÜCHSE
[The Wisdom of Foxes]
by Dag Frommhold & Daniel Peller
Ludwig/Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe, September 2022
Red fur, amber eyes, a bushy tail: foxes are incredibly beautiful animals. We also think of them as intelligent, shrewd and playful. Yet foxes are not just smart: they have an extraordinary gift for empathy and are excellent communicators. They have a capacity for altruism and self-sacrifice, foster close emotional relationships, and are affectionate partners and loving parents. Foxes prove that you can achieve more through constructive debate than aggression, that smarts and flexibility can get us what we want, and that selflessness benefits everyone in the end.
In DIE WEISHEIT DER FÜCHSE, fox experts Dag Frommhold and Daniel Peller tell astonishing stories showing just how fascinating foxes are – not only are they much more like us than we think, but we can learn a lot from these unsung heroes.
Dag Frommhold has loved foxes ever since he was a child. As an author, co-founder of wildlife conservation initiatives and spokesperson for various wildlife and nature conservation organisations, he has spent many years championing foxes and their fellow vulpines.
When a serious illness forced him to give up his job, Daniel Peller decided to dedicate his life to foxes. After more than twenty years of observing them, corresponding with international fox specialists and closely working with wildlife shelters, he is now a bona fide fox expert. In 2017, he founded the organisation « Fox Aid », running its online aid network, and campaigning for wildlife conservation.

No wonder we love trees so much. Even just a short stroll through a park or woodland helps us breathe easier and replenish our energy resources, and looking up into the leafy canopy above your head can help clear your mind. But beeches, yews, etc. also have a darker side: they commit all sorts of nefarious deeds, and are willing to poison, mutilate and kill to gain the advantage over their neighbours. In 
Luise is intelligent, Luise is independent, Luise is an island. She has also gained a reputation as an excellent marine biologist. Her specialty is the sea walnut, a ghostly illuminated jellyfish living in the dark waters of the oceans. When Luise is asked to go to Graz for a project with a famous zoo, she says yes right away. But Graz is the town she grew up in and the town where her estranged father, who is ill, still lives – and where the silence between them began, long ago…
Munich, 1827. Johanna von Seybach has moved from Königsberg to the magnificent Lily Palace, her uncle’s family seat – where an exciting season awaits her! Even before her official debut, it looks like a proposal from the eligible bachelor Friedrich Veidt is all but certain. But then Johanna has an unguarded moment of passion, and her reputation is suddenly in tatters. Friedrich drops her, and she’s left broken-hearted. Will anyone want to marry her, after such a scandal? Then she meets Alexander von Reuss at a glittering masked ball. That same evening, they grow closer than they should, experiencing a sensuous moment of surrender. But Johanna’s scandalous past is making such waves that even true love may not be enough to save her.