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"The Red Fox has a long bushy tail with a white tip that provides balance for large jumps and complex movements. Its strong legs allow it to reach speeds up to 45 miles per hour, a great benefit for catching prey or escaping predators!"
Scientific Name -
Vulpes vulpes
RANGE - United States, Canada, Europe, Asia
LIFESPAN - Average 3 years (12 in captivity)
DIET - Rodents, insects, fruits, worms, eggs, birds, small animals & carrion.
WEIGHT - 6.5 to 15 pounds
Length - 32 to 43 inches
STATUS - Doing Well
PROTECTION - None
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The Red Fox is the most wide-spread terrestrial carnivore in the world, found throughout North America, Europe and Asia. This fox is commonly a rusty red color, with a white underbelly, black ear tips and legs, and a bushy tail with a white tip. The "red" tone can vary from crimson to gold and can be brindled, with bands of red, brown, black and white on each individual hair. The fox's eyes are golden to yellow with vertically slit pupils like those of a cat. Their eyesight and agility is as sharp as that of a cat, and has been referred to as a "cat-like canid". Its long bushy tail provides balance for large jumps and complex movement. It has strong legs that allow it to reach speeds up to 45 miles per hour, a great benefit for catching prey and escaping predators. The Red Fox is found in a variety of habitats including prairies, forests & scrublands. Also becoming a familiar sight in suburban and urban settings both in Europe and North America, it shares territory with the raccoon. The Red Fox diet consists of rodents, insects, fruits, worms, eggs, birds, and other animals. It has 42 powerful teeth that it uses to catch and consume its 1 to 2 pounds of food each day. Generally a solitary hunter, most active at night and twilight. When a fox catches more food than it can eat, it will bury the extra food for retrieval later. Red Fox ussually form monogamous pairs each winter, and together raise a litter of 4-6 kits (or pups), (up to 13). The male will bring food to the female up to and after the birth. Young foxes leave the den area at maturity, only 8-10 months. Kits are born blind and may weigh up to .33 pounds. Their eyes open by two weeks of age and they take their first steps out of the den at 4 to 5 weeks. By 10 weeks the kits are fully weaned. In the Fall of the same year, the young foxes will leave to claim their own territories. Red Foxes reache sexual maturity at 10 months of age, and ussually live for 3 to 4 years in the wild. Atleast one has lived to 12 years in captivity. During autumn and winter, the Red Fox grows its winter fur for warmth. This winter coat is shed when spring arrives, reverting to summer fur. The Red Fox communicates with body language, scent markings and vocalizations.
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