Boromir -
The fox did not physically speak, but his thoughts could not be considered "typical" of an animal. In fact, the patterns of the words imply a kind of internal speech:
Quote:
A fox passing through the wood on business of his own stopped several minutes and sniffled.
"Hobbits!" he thought. "Well, what next? I have heard of strange doings in this land, but I have seldom heard of a hobbit sleeping out of doors under a tree. Three of them? There's something mighty queer behind this." He was quite right, but he never found out any more about it.
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That fox (almost like Tom Bombadil) is seemingly part of the natural world and oblivious to the shifting battles of right and wrong. Yet, just like Tom, that fox could never exist in a world where the Ring or Sauron reigned supreme. Under that scenario, all of Middle-earth would eventually be reduced to the condition of Mordor, with most of natural life snuffed out and the few remnents left struggling to survive. So although the fox is unaware (as Tom is blissfully unaware) his entire being and way of life is actually dependent on those three hobbits.
My guess is that, as a Catholic, Tolkien felt this way about life in general. There are things that happen in another realm (in the case of Man that would be the spiritual) on which we are truly dependent, but that we do not have the awareness or understanding to comprehend the struggle that is actually going on.