Cuteness Overload: Meet the World’s Smallest Wild Canine

The massive Sahara Desert covers 6% of the world’s land. But the world’s smallest wild dog stakes its claim there. (And, after this video, in your heart.)


This article was originally published on GearJunkie.


The fennec fox is “about the size of a walking boot,” as the BBC puts it. And most of that seems to be auditory organs.

These diminutive but cunning desert dwellers use their huge ears, among other specially adapted body parts, to diffuse the heat in the Sahara desert — nearly their only habitat on earth.

 

Catch a glimpse into this tiny canine’s bizarre world in this short, informative, and irresistibly cute video. Find out why, for instance, they always dig their burrows at the base of a dune. And why the bottoms of their paws are furry.

Mostly, though, just watch these cute little xerocoles scamper around in the sand. It’s enough to make you wish you lived in a hole in the ground too.

Sam Anderson

Sam Anderson takes any writing assignments he can talk his way into while intermittently traveling the American West and Mexico in search of margaritas — er, adventure. He parlayed a decade of roving trade work into a life of fair-weather rock climbing and truck dwelling before (to his parents’ evident relief) finding a way to put his BA in English to use. Sam loves animals, sleeping outdoors, campfire refreshments and a good story.