Red fox | Facts & Information

Origin

The image of a cunning, resourceful, daring and almost intriguing animal persists to this day on the Fox. How myth and legends always cover a cramp of truth a mere glimpse into the life of this animal would tell all about the secrets of surviving a true winner.

The Fox, carnivorous mammal, with the scientific name Vulpes vulpes, is included in the family Canidae, along with wolf, dog, Jackal, raccoon, and others. Although usually the Fox is considered reddish its color is very varied (black-brown, reddish, yellowish, silver, etc.).

The red fox, also encountered in our country is one of the Fox breeds found almost throughout Europe and North America and less in North Africa and Australia. Foxes prefer wild places (forests, tundra, Prairie) where man gets with difficulty, rich in vegetation. Lately, there has been an increase in fox populations in suburban areas.

It is considered the existence of three varieties of Fox: Birch (with the chest, ventral part and tip of the tail whitish, and the sides yellowish), cross (which has a black stripe on the back, which crosses with the one on the forelimbs; the most widespread) and charcoal (with the chest, neck, abdomen and tip of the tail gray or black-gray and black legs). But there are intermediate varieties, in many cases being very difficult to distinguish.

It has a great ecological plasticity, in our country it can be found both in Baragan and Dobrogea, as well as in high altitude forests, up to the limit of forest vegetation. For it to exist it only requires good soil to dig its burrow. The best soil is loamy-sandy soil, deep. It is not good to have groundwater on the surface, nor excessively compact soils (it would be very difficult to dig) or excessively Sandy (galleries would collapse).

Feeding The Red Fox

The Fox eats most small mammals: field mice, gophers, Beavers, lemmings, squirrels, rabbits, etc.it detects prey even without seeing it (by smell or sound), but does not run after it, but jumps on it with its front paws, like cats.

Most foxes often kill more than they can eat at a single meal and bury what is superfluous(what remains or what they hunt extra), to return another time to the place with "supplies".

The Fox is a perfect carnivore, feeding on various creatures that it can catch, from young deer to all kinds of insects. In winter when hunting is little, shoot at the leashes. It is a great consumer of rodents, being next to the weasel and the mouse Hawk, one of the biggest enemies of Agriculture pests.

In the absence of food, it is content with fruits, honeycombs of wasps and bees, chicks and eggs of birds that nest at low height. He never hunts in a pack, and if his prey has escaped, he hunts like a bloodhound.

Foxes are originally carnivorous animals, but at present they have adapted to a herbivorous regime, so a fox hunts mainly rodents such as Forest mice, rats, harciogs, Gophers, rabbits but also birds such as pheasants, partridges and quails.

Frogs, lizards, insects, and bird eggs also enter the diet of foxes. In the vineyards of southern France, Foxes have been observed feeding on grapes, which brings a new validation to the well-known proverb! Foxes are the only canids that hunt rodents by lurking and catching them from a jump, in the same manner as wild felines. Towards the approach of the cold season Foxes tend to hunt more and even eat berries.

Appearance Red Fox

The Fox is smaller than the usual dog and obviously smaller than the Wolf. It has between 7 and 10 kg, rarely more. The body is under 1 m long, and the bushy tail about 30-40 cm. The Fox's body is not large, being quite similar to the dog's, but stands out due to its long bushy tail, which has a white tip. The coat is reddish.

The weight of foxes varies between 3-14 kg, depending on the season and the area in which they live, foxes from the northern lands being larger usually than those living in temperate and warm areas. The snout of foxes is longer and narrower than that of any dog, this adaptation occurring over time due to their habit of hunting mice and rats.

Behavior Red Fox

The Fox is a nocturnal, solitary animal, not living in groups, that performs its activity with predilection during the night. During the day he sleeps, and at night he comes out of his lair to hunt. When she is hungry or needs to feed her young, she dares to go out during the day to get her food.

Also, the Fox can be seen during the day, during the mating season. As with other animals, the Fox designates a larger or smaller territory depending on its food sources and its ability to defend it. The territory is often chosen by one male, who is accompanied by 1-2 females and their young. Once established in a territory, Foxes remain there throughout their lives.

The speed of movement of foxes is 46 km/h. the gait is very varied. The trail of the Fox left on the snow or soft ground is similar to that left by a dog of her size. The characteristic is the left slope, respectively, the string of traces, in a straight line. The dog's slope is slightly zigzagged. The Fox does not hibernate.

Once considered "chicken eaters," Foxes have been cruelly hunted for years. Another reason why people have not looked at foxes sympathetically is that they spread-especially in the countryside – several very serious diseases, including rabies. Mammals with which foxes come into direct contact may be affected, but the disease can also be transmitted to humans, either directly by bite or through birds in the yard.

The Fox skillfully chooses the place where it will build its lair. The Burrow is provided with several exits, being located on sunny slopes, embankments or in Earth elevations. Fox burrows are narrow and start horizontally unlike Badger burrows, which are wider and start down into the depth of the ground.

The long, bushy tail gives the Fox a special advantage of keeping the echibre while chasing after prey among the trees and bushes in the forests. For short distances of up to 200 meters, a fox runs faster than a hare!

The Fox's adventure in Australia deserves a separate discussion, this being one of the most enlightening examples of the effects of introducing a foreign animal into a new habitat. Newly introduced Foxes in Australia have not encountered any natural predators here, as a result they have multiplied so much that they have destroyed many species of marsupial mammals, some of them eliminating them altogether, others bringing them to the brink of extinction. Today Foxes brought to Australia continue to thrive…

The voice varies according to the different acts in the annual life cycle. The means of communication of the mother with the Cubs is a grunt. During the mating period, a barking can be heard, which the chicks left alone also use. In case of danger or when fighting with each other, the males make a kind of grunt.

The wounded or cornered Fox makes a scream and the hungry Cubs whine. The most developed senses are smell and hearing, followed by sight, and taste and touch are less important.

Breeding The Red Fox

A pair of foxes (because this animal is generally monogamous) owns a territory that varies between 10-50 square km depending on the peculiarities of the terrain and food sources.

Pairs are formed in winter, when several males gather and fight each other for a female, the winner driving the losers out of his territory and the next pair. This phenomenon is also called the wedding of foxes by hunters and foresters.

The Cubs are born in underground burrows only once a year, from March to May. Usually, five siblings come into the world, but extreme cases have been studied: one cub or 12 – at one birth!

Fox cubs are blind at birth, their eyes opening only after the second week of life. The parents are very caring for the little ones: the mother is always around the Cubs to protect them, and the father goes hunting to provide food for the whole family.

In the first month the chicks feed only on the milk sucked from their mother. starting from the second month, fox cubs are taken to hunt by adults, in order to begin the first attempts on their own.

The Fox does not have an easy life, however, besides man, in nature, it is hunted by large eagles, wolves, coyotes, leopards, lynxes, and gluttons.