Red Fox
Zoo Animals
Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
The red fox is in the family Canidae, also known as the canid or wild dog family. The Red Fox is the most widely distributed canid in the world, being found throughout the northern hemisphere and in Australia. There are ten or eleven species of the genus Vulpes in the world depending on how they are classified with the red fox being the largest within this genus. Three of these species live in North America - the kit fox, the swift fox, and the red fox. The red fox is the only one of these three found in the Carolinas. The earliest records of red foxes brought to the Carolinas from Europe date from around the 1740s. The red fox has expanded its range southeastward since colonial times and now occurs throughout most of the region. In the Carolinas and Virginia, the red fox is common in the mountains and piedmont regions, but is considered rare and sometimes absent in the coastal plain of this region. Red foxes are primarily nocturnal creatures, moving about the most from dusk until dawn, but activity during the day is not considered uncommon. Foxes are shy, non-aggressive animals. They have very few encounters with man in the wild primarily because of its nocturnal habits. It is economically important both as a fur bearer and a predator. As a predator, its controlling influence on rodent and rabbit populations has been of great benefit to most farming operations and to the overall health of wildlife in an ecosystem by controlling the spread of disease.
The red fox is named for the reddish-orange coloration of its coat. They can resemble a medium-sized, bushy-tailed dog with the tail, body, and top of the head all being a shade that falls in the color spectrum between yellow and reddish-orange. The underside of the body is light in color and the tips of the ears and lower legs are black. The tail is long, about 70% of the length of the head and body length, bushy, and tipped with white. Adult red foxes are about 39-41 inches in length and weigh from 7.7 to 15.4 pounds. Males are generally larger than females.
Red foxes are generalists, preferring a diversity of habitats that offer a wide variety of prey, rather than large tracts of one habitat type. These preferred habitat types include farmland, pastures, used and/or abandoned fields and open forest stands. They frequently hunt the edges of these open habitats. Rabbits, field mice, and voles are the primary prey of the red fox, especially in the winter, although it does forage on a variety of prey that includes insects, birds, eggs, fruits, and berries in the spring, summer, and fall seasons. Considered a top predator in the food chain, it is also a scavenger, consuming carrion and garbage in some locations of its range.
Red foxes pair for life and in the Carolinas usually mate in January. The female fox is called a vixen. Both males and females may mate and reproduce in their first year of life. Adults only have one litter per year. The gestation period following mating is about 52 days. The pups are born sometime between late February through April. The average litter size is five pups and are born in a den that the parents dug out themselves or "borrowed" from another creature such as a woodchuck. While the pups are being raised the parents, who are both responsible for raising the pups, center their activity around the den sight. Males bring food to the female until the pups can be left alone. The pups' eyes open in 9 days and they are weaned at 8-10 weeks. The pups remain at the den for the first month. After they are weaned, they begin to explore areas around the den by themselves. As they continue to mature, they will progressively explore farther and farther from the den site. The family unit remains together until early fall when the pups will disperse to establish their own home ranges and find mates.
The primary cause of death in foxes is in relation to humans. Foxes are hunted, trapped, and killed by automobiles and farm machinery. They also contract a variety of diseases including mange, distemper, and rabies. Attitudes towards this creature are highly variable depending on the portion of their range. In some areas, they are treated as vermin and bounties are placed on them at times. In other areas, they are considered game or fur-bearing animals. In the mid-Atlantic and southern regions of the U.S., fox hunting continues to be a popular sport since colonial days. They are usually hunted with hounds by hunters either on horseback or on foot. However, in many cases the chase is the primary goal of the hunt and the physical capture of the fox is not mandatory for the hunt to be a success.The life expectancy of a wild red fox is about five years, although due to many mortality factors, few actually live that long.
Storytellers and writers in almost every culture and in every period of history have portrayed the fox as intelligent, cunning, and shrewd. In many people’s imaginations, the fox is a wily character that uses its gift of wit to take advantage of other animals. To be as "smart as a fox" is to be greatly complimented in most cultures.
