BIOLOGICAL DATA AND HABITAT REQUIREMENTS
WILDLIFE SPECIES: Vulpes vulpes | Red Fox 



TIMING OF MAJOR LIFE HISTORY EVENTS : 
Breeding season - Red foxes are monestrous [1,5].  The red fox breeding
season generally lasts from December to March [1,5,36].  However, the
onset of breeding varies in different parts of red fox range, earlier in
the south and later in the north.  Breeding in Ontario occurs from late
January to late March [36].  Breeding peaks occur from late December to
early January in Iowa, late January in Wisconsin, and late January and
early February in New York.  The earliest recorded breeding dates for
red foxes in the United States are early December and the latest are in
April [1].

It is not known whether red foxes in the wild are normally polygamous.
However, it is common to see several males near a female during estrus
[36].  Estrus last 1 to 6 days.  Females may breed at 10 months of age.
However, not all females breed their first year.  Most males are capable
of breeding their first year [5].

Gestation and litter size - Gestation usually lasts 51 to 53 days.
Litters of four to seventeen have been reported, with a mean of five
[5,13,36].  Generally only one litter is produced per year.

Development of young - Newborn pups remain at the den for the first
month of life.  They first open their eyes at 9 days of age.  Red fox
parents may move the pups from one den to another as many as three times
before they are 6 weeks old.  Litters are sometimes split with half the
litter residing in one den and half in another.  Pups are weaned at 8 to
10 weeks.  When pups are 10 weeks old they may travel short distances
from the den without being accompanied by a parent.  At about 12 weeks
of age pups begin to explore their parents' home range independently or
with a parent [5].

Dispersal - By mid-September or early October pups begin to disperse.
Male red foxes usually disperse before females and move greater
distances [5].  Most red foxes disperse from their parents' home range
before their first birthday [36].  The mean distance dispersed by males
in Iowa and Illinois was 18 miles (29 km) [23].  In Ontario,
straight-line dispersal distances as great as 76 miles (122 km) were
recorded, but most males dispersed a straight-line distance of about 19
miles (30 km) during the first 15 days after leaving the den.  Females
dispersed an average of 5 miles (8 km) in Ontario and 10 miles (16 km)
in Iowa and Illinois [23,36].

Social organization - The red fox social unit is comprised of pups and
either one male and one female or a group of one male and several
females [21].  When a group contains several females they are generally
kin.  In much of North America, social groups are just pairs.  Where
groups include additional adult females, the largest groups occur in
rural-suburban habitat and average more than three females.  Only a
minority of females in large groups rear pups.  Nonbreeding females
tend to be socially subordinate to breeding ones, and some act as
helpers.  Where more than one female breeds within a social group,
communal denning and nursing are common [36].

Life span - Most red foxes in the wild live 3 or 4 years [1].


PREFERRED HABITAT : 
Red foxes can survive in a variety of habitats.  They select areas of
greatest diversity and use edges heavily [1,5,36].  Dense forests are
usually avaoided.  In rural areas they prefer diverse habitats
consisting of intermixed cropland, rolling farmland, brush, pastureland,
mixed hardwood stands, and edges of open areas that provide suitable
hunting grounds.  Red foxes may also inhabit suburban areas,
particularly parks, golf courses, cemeteries, and large gardens [5].

Home range - The size of individual red fox home range varies.  Home
ranges are generally not more than 5 miles (8 km) in diameter.  During
the period of parturition and for a few weeks afterwards, adult red
foxes usually remain within 0.5 mile (0.8 km) of the den.  Ranges are
largest during the winter [1].  Red fox home ranges tend to be
elliptical [5].  Storm [32] found that one adult male had a home range
1.9 miles (3.1 km) long by 1.4 miles (2.2 km) wide.  Schofield [27]
followed tracks in the snow and estimated red fox home ranges to be 1 to
1.5 miles (1.6-2.4 km) in radius in Wisconsin.  In Ontario red fox home
ranges in farmland averaged 2,224 acres (900 ha) but ranged from 1,235
to 4,940 acres (500-2,000 ha) [36].  In the arctic, home ranges are as
large as 8,400 acres (3,400 ha) [16].  Adult foxes may remain in the
same home range for life [1].


COVER REQUIREMENTS : 
Dens - Red foxes may dig their own den; more often they use an abandoned
woodchuck (Marmota spp.) or American badger (Taxidea taxus) burrow
[1,5].  Dens are prepared in late winter at which time the female
restricts her activities to the vicinity of the den site.  There is a
preference for loose soils on well-drained sites near or within
vegetative cover.  Most red fox dens were located on slopes in Iowa, on
southerly facing slopes in woods in Wisconsin [25], in sandy soils near
the edges of woods in New York, and on islands in Maryland marshes [1].
The same den may be used for many generations, with burrows being added
each year.  Most dens have at least two openings.  Red fox dens with up
to 19 entrances have been found in Alaska [5].

Foraging cover - Red foxes often hunt in open grassy areas, especially
along streams [34].

Hiding and thermal cover - In agricultural areas, shelterbelts and
fencerows are used for hiding and thermal cover as well as travel
corridors [3].


FOOD HABITS : 
Red foxes are omnivorous.  They eat a variety of animals and plant
materials depending mainly on the availability of the food source.
Small mammals, birds, fruits, and insects comprise the bulk of the diet
[5].

Voles (Microtus spp.), mice (Muridae), woodchucks (Marmota monax) and
several lagomorph species (eastern cottontails [Sylvilagus floridanus],
snowshoe hares [Lepus americanus], and black-tailed jackrabbits [L.
californicus]) are often preferred [36].  In New York and New England,
meadow voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus) were the most commonly eaten prey
item.  Rabbits (Sylvilagus spp.) were also commonly eaten.  Throughout
most of the year in Ontario, meadow voles are the major prey,
constituting as much as 50 percent of the red fox's diet [36].

Red foxes may also eat squirrels (Spermophilus spp.), young Virginia
opossums (Didelphis virginiana), raccoons (Procyon lotor), skunks
(Mustelidae), domestic cats (Felis catus), domestic dogs (Canis
familiaris), weasels (Mustela spp.), mink (Mustela vison), common
muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus), shrews (Soricidae), moles (Talpidae),
common porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum), pocket gophers (Geomyidae),
songbirds, crows (Corvus spp.), ring-necked pheasants (Phasianus
colchicus), northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus), grouse
(Tetraoninae), waterfowl (Anseriformes), wild turkeys (Meleagris
gallopavo), domestic chickens, American woodcocks (Scolopax minor),
hawks (Accipitridae), owls (Strigiformes), bird eggs, turtles, and
turtle eggs.  Plant foods such as grasses, sedges (Carex spp.), nuts,
berries, pears, apples, grapes, and corn, wheat, and many other grains
are eaten by red foxes.  Livestock and big game are sometimes eaten as
carrion [1,5,30,36].

Seasonal variations are prominent in the diet of red foxes.  The diet
generally changes from mostly animal matter in the winter to insects and
fruit in the summer and fall [5].  Red foxes show a strong preference
for certain wild berries and fruits.  During seasons of abundance,
blueberries (Vaccinium spp.), raspberries (Rubus spp.) and black
cherries (Prunus serotina) may constitute almost 100 percent of the diet
[1].


PREDATORS : 
Gray wolves (Canis lupus) and lynx (Lynx lynx) sometimes kill red foxes
[1,5].  Other large predators such as mountain lions (Felis concolor),
bobcats (Lynx rufus), and coyotes (Canis latrans) probably also
occasionally kill red foxes.  Humans hunt and trap red foxes [1,5,36].


MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS : 
Habitat management - To enhance or maintain habitat quality for red
foxes, managers should maintain woodlots in agricultural areas with
minimal grazing or disturbance; this ensures diversity of understory
vegetation and foods.  Establishment of fruit producing shrubs and trees
should be encouraged.  Shelterbelts and fencerows should be maintained
to provide cover and travel corridors [3].  Timber harvest areas should
have irregular shapes to maximize edge effect [5].

Diseases - Red foxes are particularly susceptible to rabies.  Rabies may
cause from 60 to 80 percent mortality in a population during an
outbreak.  Red foxes are also susceptible to canine distemper,
parvovirus, toxoplasmosis, canine hepatitis, tularemia, leptospirosis,
staphylococcal infections, encephalitis viruses, and mange [2,5,33,36].
Red foxes host a large number of parasites (hookworms and roundworms)
typical of carnivores that feed on small prey [36].

Studies of the effects of red fox predation in the prairie pothole
region of North America have indicated that although the consumption of
mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) may not be high, the effect on the mallard
population may be critical [7,26].  Red fox predation on mice and
woodchucks has been beneficial to most agricultural areas.  Red foxes
may play a role in controlling population explosions of rodents and
rabbits [36].


REFERENCES : 
NO-ENTRY

Related categories for Wildlife Species: Vulpes vulpes | Red Fox