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Vulpes vulpes |
Physical Description:The most common kind of Red Fox has a reddish orange coat on its back and head, with a white belly and neck. Its feet, tail and ears are all tipped with black. Although the red fox isn't always red! One variation of the red fox is called the cross fox. The cross fox has a brownish coat , and two black stripes across its back, which form a cross. The other variation is the Silver Fox. Its coat is black or silver and it is very valuable. Even though the Red Fox has different colors they still are the same size about 3 to 3 1/2 feet (head to tail) and about 9 - 12 pounds.Diet and Feeding Habits:The Red Fox is an omnivore. They mostly eat small animals like rodents, rabbits and insects. Foxes usually hunt at night and all year round. When hunting for mice the red fox will stay absolutely still and wait for the squeak of a mouse or the russle of grass. Once it hears one of those it jumps in to the air and pins the little animal with its front legs. The red fox is a scavenger and so its not picky about what it eats, and if its hungry it will eat dead things. The red fox also eats fruits!Reproduction:Red Foxes start mating in February to April. The Female will mate with more then one male but she only choses one partner. She is pregnant for 51- 53 days. The babies are usually called pups. The litters can be as small as one pup or as big as 13. The Male protects the den and brigs the female food during this time. The pups leave the following autumn, which is about 4- 5 months with there mother.Habitat:The red fox lives in forests prairies and farm lands. They love habitats with many different choices of fruits and vegetables. Foxes are now starting to come in to more and more urban areas to scavenge around in people’s trash. In the wild foxes make dens for themselfs but, usually only go in to them when having pups. Red foxes are somewhat territorial and there territory size is about 5 to 12 km.Role in the Ecosystem:The Red Fox helps keep the population of its prey down like rabbits and mice. They also spread seeds of the fruit they eat by eating them. Pups are very vunerable and if one strays away from the den it can be easily eaten by a larger animal. Adult foxes can also fall prey to wolves or coyotes but, the biggest enemy to the fox is the human. Some humans consider foxes as pests and set traps for them. Foxes are also hunted for sport, but foxes have very valuable fur and are killed for it. Foxes are also killed because they spread rabies.Bibliographyhttp://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Vulpes_vulpes.htmlhttp://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/redfox.htm World book 2001 james J sade, world book ink. 2001 world book: Joseph A. Davis, B.S., Former Editor, Concept Omega |
Red Fox