Wildlife Wednesday: The Red Fox
by Andy Ames
February really is the month for lovers. Last week we looked at coyotes, this week it is the red fox. Late winter is the mating season for both. While usually solitary, red fox pairs will begin spending more and more time together during winter months, with most mating occurring from January to March. Gestation is a little shorter than coyote’s at 53 days, with most births in April - just in time for ground squirrels to come out of hibernation. Mom will spend the first month in the den nursing her newborns while the father brings food home for the growing family. The kits grow fast, however, and by a month it is all hands on deck. Both parents will go out hunting to provide for the growing young. By fall, the young disperse and it is back to solitary living.
Red foxes and coyotes have much in common besides their breeding cycles. Similar diets and habitats make them competitors. They largely make room for eachother by avoidance. Coyotes, while they can be active day or night, are mostly crepuscular and diurnal hunters. Foxes are more nocturnal. There is a reason they are so rarely seen!
While it is winter in the Estes Valley, these animals know spring is not too far away.
Red fox kit venturing a short distance from its natal den. Red foxes may have several dens in their home range but one natal den. Kits are about a quarter pound at birth but grow quickly. By a month they make their first emergence from their den and start to eat solid food. By fall, young will disperse to find their own
How name vole can you fit in your mouth? Small animals such as mice and vole make up the bulk of a fox’s diet. They are opportunistic, however, so will also eat insects, small reptiles, birds, rabbits, carrion, as well as plant matter.
Too much to consume or carry? Red foxes will often cache excess food for later consumption. Burying their extra food helps in preservation and conceals it from scavenging birds.
While red foxes can come in various colors from black to grey to silver, reddish orange with dark legs, like this one, is more typical. Regardless of the color, all red foxes are distinguished by a red tipped tail. Note the slight build. Adult red foxes only weigh about 10 pounds!
Despite their difference in weight, red fox tracks can be hard to distinguish from those of a coyote. The size of the tracks are similar. Both have larger front tracks than rear. Both often walk in a direct register, meaning the rear foot lands directly in the spot the front foot vacated. The toes of the rear will even land right over those of the front. The heel of the rear foot is small with less weight placed on it so often you only see the heel of the front foot.
How can you tell them apart? Foxes, being smaller have a narrower stance so their tracks fall more in a straight line. For red foxes, the distinguishing feature is a ridge across the heel pad of the front foot (highlighted in comments). In this photo the rear track is in the upper right, the front print in the lower left.