Red Fox

Vulpes vulpes

MammalHuntableListed as Least Concern…

Overview

Coloration from pale yellowish red to deep reddish brown on the upper parts and white, ashy or slaty on the underside. The lower part of the legs is usually black and the tail usually has a white or black tip. Two color variants commonly occur. Cross foxes have reddish brown fur with a black stripe down the back and another across the shoulders. Silver foxes range from strong silver to nearly black and are the most prized by furriers. These variants are about 25% and 10% of red fox individuals, respectively. The eyes of mature animals are yellow. The nose is dark brown or black.

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammal
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Vulpes

Habitat

Natural habitat is dry, mixed landscape, with abundant edge of scrub and woodland. This animal is highly adaptive to varied environments, including urban and suburban landscapes. Distribution- The Red Fox has the widest geographical range of any member of the order Carnivora (covering nearly 70 million km²) being distributed across the entire northern hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to southern North America, Europe, North Africa, the Asiatic steppes, India, and Japan.

Diet

Small mammals, birds, insects, and some plant material.

Behavior

These animals are solitary, somewhat territorial, and remain within their home range for their entire life.

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.