The Red Fox

The red fox is the smallest member of the dog family.  Red foxes are agile predators that usually weigh under 7 kg (15 lb). They scavenge carrion and wild fruits and hunt small rodents, rabbits, birds, and invertebrates. Because they hunt small prey sufficient to feed only one animal, foxes are solitary predators and do not hunt in packs.

Foxes are a diverse group of canids containing 14 species and occupying almost all continents. The best known foxes are the forest, chaparral, and farmland species. This group contains the gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, of North America, and the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, of North America, Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The red fox is the most widely distributed and the most common fox species.

A pair of red foxes normally occupies a territory of 2.5 to 8 sq km (1 to 3 sq mi), which they defend against other foxes. The male and female mate during midwinter, and four to seven young are born after an average gestation period of 51 days. The dog fox brings food to the vixen while she is nursing; later both parents feed the pups. By midsummer the young foxes begin to hunt on their own and are self-sufficient by autumn. During early winter the family group breaks up, and the young leave the territory.

Scavenging red foxes leave urine to convey messages to one another. A urine mark left at a site by one fox tells another fox that no food is left nearby; unless the remaining food odor is very strong, the second fox will search for food elsewhere without investigating this urine-marked location.

The red fox has also been widely represented in fables and stories since ancient times as a clever and sly creature. This fox ranges throughout temperate and warm regions of the Northern Hemisphere.