The conclusion reached by Russian scientists after decades
spent domesticating foxes was profound but hardly unexpected:
If you’re going to be tame, be cute. Less chance you’ll be flushed
down the toilet. I think about that on brutal, baby-filled
commutes and whether any of the team, Goran, say, or Vlad
ever mistook on a certain cub, its white markings for a bib and
placed it in a bassinet – fell to coddling it with sugar-cubes, toy
ducks and songs about the wide, embracing arms of Mother
Russia. Gave it ear muffs. Made it a scarf.
Claudine Toutoungi’s debut collection Smoothie was published in 2017; her next collection Two Tongues will be published by Carcanet in October.
Content from our partners
Related
This article appears in the 18 Mar 2020 issue of the New Statesman, The final reckoning