Gray Fox

Gray Fox. Photo courtesy US Fish & Wildlife Service.

Common Name: Gray fox

Scientific name:Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Family: Canidae

Habitat: brushy areas, swampy lands and rugged, mountainous terrain.

Range:

Food: road-killed animals and winter kills, mice, rats, rabbits, woodchucks, opossums, porcupines, domestic cats, chickens, insects, squirrels, game birds, songbirds, bird eggs, fruits and grasses.

Shelter: Grays often hole up in dens for three or four days at a time during severe weather.

Places to raise young: a den beneath the ground or in crevices in rocky ledges. Underground dens usually have several entrances

Females: vixens; Males: "dog" foxes Young: kits

Description: The gray fox has a grizzled gray coat, somewhat coarser than the red's, with buff-colored underfur. The gray's tail is also long and bushy, with a black streak running down its length and a black tip. The gray is 21-29 inches in length, plus an 11- to 16-inch tail, and weighs 7-13 pounds. Foxes look like they are heavier than these weights, an impression created by their full, thick fur.

The gray fox has much larger toe pads and a smaller foot than the red, so the two can often be distinguished by their tracks.

Life history:
Red and gray foxes are small, agile carnivores belonging to the same family (Canidae) as the dog, coyote and wolf. They are intelligent predators with extremely sharp senses of sight, smell and hearing (a fox can hear a mouse squeal at about 150 feet).
Foxes are swift runners and can swim if they have to and are mainly nocturnal. The gray can climb trees--it is the only member of the canine family with this ability.

Grays are usually more aggressive than reds and where the ranges of the two overlap, the gray is typically the dominant species. But there are exceptions to every broad statement made about wildlife. Knowing that, you can figure somewhere out there are places where reds rule or where the two species coexist without problem.

After a 63-day period young are born in dens. Litters range from 4-10 young, with six the average. The den may be beneath the ground or in crevices in rocky ledges. Underground dens for both species usually have several entrances.

Fox pups weigh about eight ounces at birth, and their eyes are closed for the first 8-10 days. They are nursed by the female in the den for around a month. When the pups emerge, both mother and father keep them supplied with solid food until they are completely weaned after two or three months.

The pups leave the den area in mid-July or August and may forage with their parents for another month until the family disbands. Foxes trapped in the fall are often young ones, on their own for the first time and establishing new territories. Both males and females are sexually mature at 10 months and may breed during their first winter.

Movements in gray and red fox populations are basically of two types. The first is dispersal, or the movement of young in late summer or early fall. Dispersal spreads the population out, with each young fox moving several miles -- occasionally 50 miles or more -- to set up its own home territory. The second type of movement is displacement, which is caused by habitat changes and predation. There are also localized movements, the travels of individual within their home territory or range. From tracking studies, biologists estimate that a fox travels an average of five miles in search of food on a winter night.

Populations fluctuate and shift, often as a result of human activities such as logging, farming, construction and hunting. Disease also plays a role. In areas where mange outbreaks occur, red fox populations are often severely impacted. But foxes are very resilient. Both species seem to readily rebound from disease and other limiting factors, so long as the area they inhabit can provide food, escape cover and safe havens.

Resource: Wildlife Notes: Foxes By Chuck Fergus. Pennsylvania Game Commission - State Wildlife Management Agency

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