"The Quick Red Fox Learns Sign Language"

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Animal training involves hand commands, so is it possible for a pet to learn sign language? If 18-month-old Millie is any indication, than yes.

According to the (UK) Daily Mail, Millie, a red fox, was found when she was six weeks old, being chased down a country road in North Devon, England by three boys. A family scooped up the traumatized canine and soon discovered that the malnourished pup was deaf. Unable to care for her, the family brought Millie to rescue expert Beth Tyler-King. When the family asked if she could take in the fox cub, Tyler-King was ecstatic. "Would I?" Tyler-King blogged at Still on the Track. "I practically hugged her! It has been my life-long dream to hand-rear a cub ever since I played with three of them at an animal sanctuary many moons ago."

As exciting as it was for Tyler-King to hand-raise a fox cub, Millie was even more special due to her deafness. As soon as Tyler-King, who herself lost 95 percent of her hearing at age 4, found out Millie was deaf she began signing to the fox, she tells Paw Nation. Millie surprisingly seemed to understand and even understands facial expressions Tyler-King tells us.

The commands are simple. Tyler-King puts her palm out facing downwards and wags her finger if Millie is being naughty. Millie understands these kinds of commands perfectly and often is found looking at Tyler-King for direction.

Millie shares Tyler-King's home with 30 hedgehogs, five owls, seven dogs, 14 cats, five pigeons, a dove, a parrot, and a squirrel. So far, the fox hasn't shown any aggression to any of the other animals. "In September last year (four months after Millie arrived) I was given two kittens to hand rear," Tyler-King blogs on Still on the Track. "When they were four months old I introduced them to Millie and they are now all the best of friends, often sleeping together and playing together. Sometimes when I give Millie a piece of tripe, one of the kittens will literally take it out of her mouth and Millie lets her! I am then running after the kitten retrieving the tripe to give back to poor patient Millie!"

Sounds like it's time to teach those kitties the meaning of the finger wag.