Red Fox Family Near By

                                                                                Red Fox

We are fortunate to have a family of Red Foxes living near by our house.  This has been the usual thing since we moved here a few years ago.  Our area is good fox habitat because we have an open field, woods, shrubbery, a gully and a small bluff overlooking the river where they prefer making their dens.  They have become semi-accustomed to our comings and goings so we see them often.

This year the fox has made its den in the bluff just downriver from our house dug deeply into the gravel hill and out of sight from our house.  We know where it is because we see her travelling to and from regularly.  The entrance to the den is hidden in a tangle of bushes and shows a small pile of gravel where she has put the tailings from her digging.  We avoid that area of our property, giving her privacy.  There is no need to go peeking at her den because she comes out often and does not seem too afraid of our discreet presence at our house. 

For a short time now we have been seeing a groundhog digging up our field.  This happens some years when they can get away with living here and staying safe from predators.  The groundhog we saw recently was a large one, obviously it had wintered very well.  Its presence is easily seen from the mainly glass front entrance of our house.  Our dogs have been very aware of its presence and enthusiastically let us know whenever it is visible.  

That all changed last week.  Mrs. Fox (assumed it is Mrs. but I might be wrong) was seen in the field below the bluff lying down in the grass for an extended period.  With binoculars I watched her and she seemed to be very busy with something.  After about 15 minutes I realized she had caught the groundhog and was working hard at subduing it.  She remained over it up to 30 minutes and gave me good opportunity for photos although at a distance.  After it was obvious the groundhog was dead, she lay there panting for a considerable time.  After that she went on up the river bank for unknown duties, later to return.  I saw her when she came back and she grabbed that big groundhog and trotted up into her den.  I was surprised at how easily she managed to carry it since it was a big groundhog.  

                                                                        Red Fox with Prey

Shown above is the fox with the groundhog.  Note the panting after the big effort at killing the groundhog.

                                                            Red Fox with Subdued Prey

We have 3 species of foxes in Canada: the Red Fox, the Arctic Fox and the Gray Fox.  We have only the Red Fox here and its range covers most of North America.  It is found everywhere in eastern Canada in good abundance.  There are 3 basic colours recognized for the Red Fox: red morph, cross morph, and silver/black morph.  We all are familiar with the red and silver/black morphs but the cross morph is named for a fairly distinct cross on the shoulders and back and this morph is more brown than red.  All morphs have the black feet, legs and outside of the ears.  They have white tail tips and varying amounts of white on the underparts.  

Foxes are smaller than most dogs, 95-117 cm long (37-46 inches) and they weigh 3-7 kg (6-16 lb).  Their legs are a bit longer proportionately than canines and they are very agile and intelligent creatures.  They can live in many different types of habitat and have learned to live close to human habitation.  All they need are a food source, some cover and a suitable place to build their dens.  

Breeding season for foxes begins in deep winter.  Here we start to hear them howl and bark in January and February.  It is common to smell where they have scented at that time.  The gestation period for red foxes is 52-53 days and the young weigh about 113 g (4 ounces) at birth.  Litters can be from 1 to 10, with an average of 4 or 5.  Like canine puppies, fox kits have their eyes closed for the first 10 days.  They are a dark gray colour but usually show the white tail tip.  As soon as they can they climb around out of the den and play with one another like canine puppies.  They usually leave the den after one month and are weaned about 2 months of age.  They stay with the female until fall when they are hopefully prepared to make it on their own.  They are ready to breed at age 1 year.  Foxes are omnivores and eat mainly mice and hares but also insects, birds, frogs, snakes, carrion, berries and other vegetable matter.  

                            Red Fox Kits - Half Grown and Spending the Summer with the Adult

I'll end this post with a fox story from our experience.  One summer as my husband was mowing the field near the fox den with the tractor the female fox appeared at the edge of the field near the tractor.  She soon fell in behind the tractor and trotted along behind grabbing mice and voles which had been disturbed by the mower.  She packed her mouth full and trotted away presumably to give them to the kits hiding over the hill.  She soon returned to repeat the procedure.  For many weeks after that incident, whenever my husband took the tractor into the field the fox appeared and ran along side with very noticeable excitement.  We grew to love that little fox!  We hope that the female fox that has her den near our house is a descendant of that happy fox.