Organism Report #1

Monica Bockman
Ms. Overly
Science Pd 2
12 May 2008
Fauna: The Red Fox

The common Red Fox, or Vulpes vulpes, is the most widely distributed canid. It is nocturnal or crepuscular, emerging from its den—which is often the abandoned burrow of another animal—only at night or twilight. They can live almost anywhere—from deserts to savannas to mountains to forests, and even around cities. Foxes are incredibly adaptable. They aren’t picky eaters, since they will consume rodents, fruits, worms, vegetables, birds, or garbage if no other palatable food is around.

Red foxes come in a wide spectrum of shades, from golden to brown to silver or even black, but most are red, as their name would suggest. They are grey at birth, which helps them blend in with their surroundings. The most recognized feature of any fox, its tail, can be two-thirds the size of its body. This large and bushy appendage is not just a fuzzy way to distinguish the species. Foxes use their tails as blankets, and also for communicating amongst each other. Their eyes are yellow when they mature, at 10 months old. A mature fox is about 36 to 42 inches long, standing 16 inches at the shoulder, and can weigh anywhere from six and a half to 24 pounds. On average, they live two to four years, though in captivity they survive twice as long.

Communication is not restricted to tail signals among foxes. They also use scent markings and vocalization. Foxes have small territories around their dens, which contain a male and one or two female foxes. Mating occurs in winter, from February to April. Pups are born in litters of two to twelve, and typically there are five. In general, foxes pair for life, but there are exceptions.

Foxes are hunted for their fur, and because of this foxes’ main predators are humans. Coyotes and wolves also occasionally kill them in interspecific competition for territory, but the species has little threat from anything else.

There is some controversy in people’s opinions on foxes. On one hand, they are the main carriers of rabies in many of the areas they inhabit, and they are sometimes considered pests because they eat domestic poultry. On the other, foxes fill a niche of dispersing seeds and controlling the populations of the smaller animals they eat. Regardless of whether they are loved or hated, foxes are acknowledged by everyone as a resourceful and adaptable species.