It was a sunny afternoon in the Central American forest. The Kratt siblings were observing some birds.
Mina awaited for her plush T-devil to be fixed.
"There you go, little sister. Good as new." Aviva gave her the toy. "Try being more careful with him, okay?"
"Okay." Mina embraced her plush toy, really happy. "I'm glad... well, that he's okay. Now I realized: we didn't gave him a name."
Without any of them noticing, a red fox sneaked into the HQ. No one seemed to notice until she bumped into a buzz bike Aviva was fixing. A tool fell on its paw, calling the others' attention.
"What was that?" Koki wondered.
"Look! There's something moving under the buzz bike," Bite-Size said.
Chris made a signal for the crew to remain silent, so they wouldn't scare whoever the creature that was hiding there. Once they were all quiet, Chris looked down and saw the red fox coming out of its hideout.
"Awww…" Aviva and Koki commented.
"Wow. A red fox," Martin said. "And look at her paw. I guess she's hurt."
"I believe this is the cause." Aviva picked up the tool that fell on the fox's paw.
"Can I name her? Can I?" Mina asked Martin.
"And what name you wanna give her?"
"Hmm... I always liked Maddie." Mina saw the fox looking at her. "And I guess she likes it too."
"Amazing. A red fox. A very rare species of fox," Martin noted. "Even though they are not endangered like other foxes, its hunting is allowed in many countries. And this excessive hunting and depredation of their natural habitat can endanger their existence. Oh, this name choice was good, Mina. "
"Thanks. I'm learning with you guys." The hybrid winked.
Jimmy ran to pick up the first-aid kit, while the rest of the crew activated their Animal Comprehension.
"You seem rather agitated. What's up?" Chris asked Maddie.
"I need to return to my pups! I'm the only family they have," Maddie answered. "My mate died some time ago, and since then, I've been taking care of them by my own..."
"I know the feeling..." Mina said, sighing and embracing her T-devil plush.
"Don't tell me there are hunters here," Chris said.
"No...it was an accident..."
*flashback*
"We went to find food to our pups, when it soon started raining hard. A lightning hit a nearby tree, we tried to run away... Once the storm stopped, I went to find him, and found him in the dephts of the lake, with his tail stuck on some rocks."
*End of flashback*
"Tell me, was there any bats in that trunk?" Bite-Size asked.
"In the trunk? Hmmm... there were many bat moms. Why?"
"Oh, my! It was Chirpelle's home. Remember, Koki?" the brown bat asked. "When you run away with me?"
"How could I forget?" Koki said. "But what about your pups, Maddie?"
"We found a cave in the middle of the forest. It was filled with wolf fur, so I guess a wolf pack lived there before," Maddie said. "I really need to return."
"Don't worry, Maddie. If this cave is the one we're thinking, maybe we'll find it without any difficulties."
"Oh... I almost forgot," Mina said. "Martin, can you help me give my T-devil plush a name?"
"WOW!" Jimmy called their attention. "Our mailbox is overloaded with questions!"
"About what?" Koki asked. "Birds, reptiles, mammals..."
"Bats?" Bite-Size asked, leaving Koki and Mina with a confused look. "What?"
"No, no. They're all about foxes!" Jimmy analyzed the questions. "The kids affirm seeing a Norwegian band videoclip, with the creature's description and other animals' sounds. And the chorus had that questi-wait a second. I think I know that song!"
Jimmy placed his Creaturepod on the desk, and played the song.
*BG music: Ylvis - The Fox*
The crew enjoyed the tune for a while, until it reached the chorus.
This was enough to make the crew laugh and dance along.
Mina started dancing with her T-devil plush.
Jimmy paused once the first chorus ended.
"This song is a great hit. It's from Ylvis. They're actually a duo of comediants, and only made this song and its video to announce their talkshow's new season."
"Interesting... and also pretty intriguing," Aviva admitted.
"Hey... why don't we solve this question? Now that we know a real fox, let's all found what the fox says for real!" Martin suggested.
"Good idea, bro," Mina said. "Wait... what's the name of the duo again, JZ?"
"Ylvis. Why?"
"That's it! I'll name my T-devil plush Ylvis," Mina approved the name, embracing her T-devil plush.
"Good choice."
Meanwhile, Donita's plane flied around the forest. Dabio didn't stopped hearing that same song, and Donita was getting irritated.
"Dabio! Turn it down! I can't take this stupid song anymore," Donita complained.
Dabio, who was moving his feet along with the beat, didn't seem to hear her until she turned off the radio.
"Hmmm... thinking about it… the red foxes' fur is wonderful. These foxes would make marvelous coats and/or scarfs! Let's land, Dabio, and search for some!"
"Are you sure you can hunt?" Mina asked. "I mean, hunting with such a wound?"
"I've had worse injuries before," Maddie said. Chris put her down and she hid behind some bushes.
"Jimmy told me that foxes hunt chickens. Is that true?" Mina asked.
"They feed preferentially on small rodents, eggs, young birds, rabbits and eventually they become scavengers like the T-devils. Fruits and grains make up their diet in autumn,"Chris explained.
"And there's a rabbit," Martin whispered. Maddie tried but with her paw wounded, it was hard for her to remain quiet to hunt. The rabbit eventually heard her movement behind the bushes, and ran away.
"Uh-oh. Hunting like that really isn't a good idea." Martin agreed with Mina.
"Oh no, my pups need to eat." Maddie's ears lowered, while Chris held her again. "What now?"
"Wait... we're in the season where Persephone go lives with my uncle Hades." Mina thought for a moment. "And in some cases, as Chris said, the fox eat... guys, I have an idea!"
The whole team gathered together to find food: Chris, in his T-devil suit, tried to find some meat for the pups, but accompanied by Mina, so he wouldn't eat rotten meat; Jimmy, Aviva and Koki gathered some fruits and grains, and Martin followed the instructions Maddie gave him to find her den and her pups. That place was just the one they thought: in that cave, once their friend Howler lived with the pack as a pup.
"Look at the cuties. They're growing really well," he noted. "In each litter, between 3 and 4 cubs can be born, with dark brown or black fur, with their eyes closed and the tips of their ears folded. During this period the males provide food to females. A month later, the pups begin to leave their den and begin to eat solid food. Two more weeks and they already have the coat of the same color of adults and start seeking their own food. They stop feeding off their mother's milk between 6 and 8 months."
"Well, they're afraid to go out hunting, because of what happened to their father," Maddie said. "So I still hunt for them. Plus... I still haven't named them."
"Allow me to do it." Martin caressed the pups. "Twins: a male and a female to be exact. Julie and Joey. J&J."
The crew arrived with the food. "It's all we could get. Fall is the best season to get food," Jimmy said. "My grandma's words. Almost every fall, she makes apple pies."
"Thank you all. My babies never leave their den, and no matter what I try, nothing works," Maddie admitted, while Julie and Joey ate.
They all paid attention to hear the sounds that foxes would make, after they ate. But the two made different sounds... One made "YAAGGAGHH", like it was being strangled and the other was doing "ack-ack-ack-ackawoo".
"Wait, they're making different sounds! Which one of them is the right one?" Aviva asked Maddie.
"Actually, all of them," Maddie replied, confusing the team. "Well, we are canines, but not exactly close relatives of dogs. Yet we have several types of vocalizations like them."
"Yeah... my dog Wyatt used to yelp, bark, howl... the fox is like that too?" Martin asked.
"Yes! Even though we're not as variated in vocalization like your dogs, we can produce different sounds," Maddie nodded.
"What's with her?" Mina asked. "Is she sick?"
"No," Maddie laughed. "This, believe it or not, is the sound we make when we are very happy."
Mina then looked at Joey: he was doing ack-ack-ack-ackawoo while playing with his sister. "That's the sound you make when playing?" She asked.
"And when they fight." Koki researching on your transmitter. "It also works as an alarm if intruders appear."
Maddie started to ack-ack-ack-ackawoo too, looking away.
"And it seems we have an intruder: Lady Crazy-Clothes is coming!" Jimmy warned them, while observing everything with his binoculars.
Donita was also observing them. "Those Wild Kratts are a rock in my shoes." Dabio was hearing the song again, and couldn't stop dancing. "Dabio! Stop fooling around and get those red foxes!"
"Guys! She's coming! With a net!" Jimmy gulped.
"You don't think she's after the foxes, do you?" Mina asked.
"Maybe..." Chris thought for a moment. "We need to make her go away. Maddie can't walk and her pups are afraid to leave the cave."
"Hey... she may know there are foxes here... but I don't think she knows its sound," Martin said. "Let's use this in our favor."
Donita and Dabio looked around to try finding the foxes.
Soon they heard a YAAGGAGHH from somewhere.
"What was that?" Donita wondered. "Maybe it was a fox. Go see what that was, Dabio."
Dabio shivered of fear, while going to see who made that noise. Donita then heard a ack-ack-ack-ackawoo from behind her.
"Maybe that's a fox!" She went to find the one that made that sound.
"It's working. They don't know which of them is the fox sound," Mina chuckled.
"Joff-tchoff-tchoffo-tchoffo-tchoff!" Aviva said from behind a bush, calling Dabio's attention. He was plainly confused now. Where was that fox?
"A-hee-ahee ha-hee!" Koki said, hiding behind some rocks and calling Donita's attention. She was confused as well.
"Which of them is the fox?" She asked herself, while everyone repeated the sounds. Not knowing where to go, Donita bumped into Dabio.
"Uh, Donita... where are the foxes?" Dabio asked.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I'll have my red fox coat!" she proclaimed. Then, they saw a shadow behind them.
Dabio panicked, jumping onDonita's lap, making them both fall on the river's direction.
"Ugh! Dabio, you nimcompoop! My hair!" she complained.
The Wild Kratts laughed as they left their hideouts. Mina was holding Ylvis in front of her Creaturepod's light.
"We got ya, Donita Dumbata!" Mina said.
"YOU…" Donita growled. "Dabio, get her!"
Mina gasped, as Dabio stood up with a net. She ran to the forest, while the Wild Kratts ran after him.
Mina ran quick as she could, until she tripped in a rock and fell into the river.
"Mina!" the Kratt Bros gasped.
"Help! My foot's stuck!" She cried for help.
"Hang on, little sister!" Martin was going to grab his medallion, until Maddie came running. She heard her call, and so did her pups. Even though she was hurt... she wouldn't let her friend drown like her mate. So, she jumped into the lake to save Mina.
"Huh? Foxes can swim?" Koki asked.
"Foxes generally avoid getting wet. However, when they are compelled to they can and will swim," Chris said, while Martin sighed inrelief.
Quickly, she removed the rock that was trapping Mina and helped her get to her family. She coughed out some water and caressed her furry friend. "Thanks, Maddie. That was a close one."
"Are you okay, hermanita?" Aviva asked.
"I think so."
"OUCH!" They looked behind to see Dabio being bitten by Maddie's pups. They let go of him, once he reached the river.
"Let's go, Mina. We'll get you a towel." Chris held his little sister.
"And you don't ever mess with her again," Martin scolded. Dabio gulped. Donita's jet appeared in the sky, and its vacuum sucked Dabio up.
"You won this time, Kratt Brothers... but I'll get my revenge," Donita sweared.
Some time later, Mina's feet and Maddie's paw were better.
"Thanks again for your help, Wild Kratts. My pups aren't afraid anymore. Now they can hunt for themselves," Maddie said.
"You're welcome." The Wild Kratts said.
"But we're the ones who need to thank you, Maddie," Chris said. "You not only saved our sister, but you also helped us clarify our doubt for the Wild Kratts Kids."
"Thanks to you, we all know now..." Martin said, while putting a song to play. "What does the fox say?" all the crew said.
Everybody started dancing to the music, even Maddie and her pups.