🐾 Red Fox

Red Fox

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Who it is

• Scientific name: Vulpes vulpes
• Family & relatives: A member of the dog family (Canidae); relatives include wolves, coyotes, and domestic dogs.
• How to spot it: Recognize it by an orange-red coat, black legs and ears, and a long bushy tail tipped with white.

Its body & abilities

• Size: Body about 45-90 cm long, plus a tail of roughly 30-55 cm.
• Weight: Typically 3-7 kg.
• Body & adaptations: Sensitive whiskers, sharp hearing, and a long tail used for balance and warmth make it a skilled night hunter.
• Top speed: Can run up to about 50 km/h.
• Strength: Can hear a mouse squeak from about 100 m and pinpoint prey under snow before pouncing.
• Senses: Excellent hearing tuned to low sounds, a keen nose, and eyes that shine at night.
• Growing up: Kits are born blind in a den, open their eyes in about two weeks, and become independent by autumn.

Where it lives

• Habitat: Extremely adaptable, living in forests, grasslands, deserts, farmland, and even cities.
• Where in the world: The most widespread wild carnivore, found across the Northern Hemisphere and introduced to Australia.
• Territory: Defends a territory of roughly 2-12 square km, marked with scent.

What it eats

• Diet: Omnivore; drinks water and eats a wide variety of foods.
• Favorite foods: Rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, fruit, and scavenged scraps.
• How it hunts: Hunts alone using a high 'mouse pounce', leaping and diving nose-first onto hidden prey.

How it behaves

• How it moves: Trots and runs on its toes, and is an agile jumper and climber.
• When it is active: Mostly active at night and twilight (nocturnal and crepuscular).
• Family life: Mostly solitary but forms family groups when raising young; a group is called a skulk or leash.
• How it talks: Uses more than 20 sounds, plus scent marking and body language, including an eerie night scream.
• Babies: After about a 52-day pregnancy, the vixen has 4-6 kits, and both parents help feed them.

Its place in nature

• Role in nature: Controls rodent and rabbit numbers; preyed on by wolves, coyotes, eagles, and large cats.
• Conservation: IUCN Least Concern, thriving even near people.
• Dangers: Common causes are vehicles, hunting, disease like mange, and larger predators.

Life & legacy

• How long it lives: Often 2-5 years in the wild, but up to about 14 years in captivity.
• In our culture: A symbol of cleverness in folklore worldwide, from Aesop's fables to Japanese kitsune legends.
• Where to see it: Seen across countryside, parks, and city edges throughout the Northern Hemisphere.
• Fun fact: A red fox may use Earth's magnetic field to aim its pounce at prey it cannot even see.