The fox, since ancient fables the symbol of the cunning and devious contemporary, has changed in recent decades to the sympathetic bearer of the animal kingdom. But what is it about this charming scoundrel that causes his fleeting appearance to trigger attraction and uncertainty at the same time, whereas we used to chase him relentlessly with the shotgun? In her personal portrait of the fox, Katrin Schumacher sets out on a natural and cultural history tour of chicken coops, children's books and fur tanneries, and finally traces the Far Eastern obsession with foxes in Japan, where the little predators beguile people as deities and erotic demons. And in our latitudes, too, we can look forward to a more intense coexistence: Knowing full well that the fox's fur is no longer constantly pulled over his ears in this country, he leaves his hidden, labyrinthine dens and heads for the cities to get up close and personal with us among the garbage cans and park undergrowth.