Overview
Range in color from yellowish to gray. They usually have a dark-colored back, light-colored undersides and inner ears, and distinct dark patches on each side of the nose and at the end of the tail. Their most distinctive feature is their exceptionally large ears placed close together on the head.
Taxonomy
- Kingdom
- Animalia
- Phylum
- Chordata
- Class
- Mammal
- Order
- Carnivora
- Family
- Canidae
- Genus
- Vulpes
Habitat
Desert scrub, chaparral, and graslands. Distribution- In the United States, it occurs from southern California to western Colorado and western Texas, north into southern Oregon and Idaho. In Mexico, it occurs across the Baja California Peninsula and across northern Sonora and Chihuahua to western Nuevo León, and south into northern Zacatecas.
Diet
Small mammals, birds, insects, and some plant material.
Behavior
Primarily nocturnal to avoid the daytime heat, and hunt or forage alone.
Hunting
Using calls is an effective method, or taken on chance occurance. Spot and stalk is difficult due to its small size compared to it's habitat combined with the fact it rarely stays in the same place for very long.
Conservation Status
Listed as Least Concern by IUCN.