FOXES
Foxes are a lot smaller than other members of their family such as wolves, jackals, and domestic dogs. In fact, most foxes are about the size of a cat, and as a result, are the smallest members of the dog family. They have slender, slightly flattened skulls, pointed muzzles, powerful legs, large ears, and long, bushy tails.
Identification
The red fox (Vulpes vulpes) is the most common of the foxes native to North America. Most depredation problems are associated with red foxes, although in some areas gray foxes (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) can cause problems. Few damage complaints have been associated with the swift fox (V. velox), kit fox (V. macrotis), or Arctic fox (Alopex lagopus).
The red fox is dog-like in appearance, with an elongated pointed muzzle and large pointed ears that are usually erect and forward. It has moderately long legs and long, thick, soft body fur with a heavily furred, bushy tail. Typically, red foxes are colored with a light orange-red coat, black legs, lighter-colored underfur and a white-tipped tail. Silver and cross foxes are color phases of the red fox. In North America the red fox weighs about 7.7 to 15.4 pounds (3.5 to 7.0 kg), with males on average 2.2 pounds (1 kg) heavier than females.
Gray foxes weigh 7 to 13 pounds (3.2 to 5.9 kg) and measure 32 to 45 inches (81 to 114 cm) from the nose to the tip of the tail. The color pattern is generally salt-and-pepper gray with buffy underfur. The sides of the neck, back of the ears, legs, and feet are rusty yellow. The tail is long and bushy with a black tip.
Other species of foxes present in North America are the Arctic fox, swift fox, and kit fox. These animals are not usually associated with livestock and poultry depredation because they typically eat small rodents and lead a secretive life in remote habitats away from people, although they may cause site-specific damage problems.
Range
Red foxes occur over most of North America, north and east from southern California, Arizona, and central Texas. They are found throughout most of the United States with the exception of a few isolated areas.
Gray foxes are found throughout the eastern, north central, and southwestern United States They are found throughout Mexico and most of the southwestern United States from California northward through western Oregon.
Kit foxes are residents of arid habitats. They are found from extreme southern Oregon and Idaho south along the Baja Peninsula and eastward through southwestern Texas and northern Mexico.
The present range of swift foxes is restricted to the central high plains. They are found in Kansas, the Oklahoma panhandle, New Mexico, Texas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Colorado.
As its name indicates, the Arctic fox occurs in the arctic regions of North America and was introduced on a number of Islands in the Aleutian chain.
Habitat
The red fox is adaptable to most habitats within its range, but usually prefers open country with moderate cover. Some of the highest fox densities reported are in the north-central United States, where woodlands are interspersed with farmlands. The range of the red fox has expanded in recent years to fill habitats formerly occupied by coyotes (Canis latrans).
The reduction of coyote numbers in many sagebrush/grassland areas of Montana and Wyoming has resulted in increased fox numbers. Red foxes have also demonstrated their adaptability by establishing breeding populations in many urban areas of the United States, Canada, and Europe. Gray foxes prefer more dense cover such as thickets, riparian areas, swamp land, or rocky pinyon-cedar ridges. In eastern North America, this species is closely associated with edges of deciduous forests. Gray foxes can also be found in urban areas where suitable habitat exists.
Food Habits
Foxes are opportunists, feeding mostly on rabbits, mice, bird eggs, insects, and native fruits. Foxes usually kill animals smaller than a rabbit, although fawns, pigs, kids, lambs, and poultry are sometimes taken. The fox’s keen hearing, vision, and sense of smell aid in detecting prey. Foxes stalk even the smallest mice with skill and patience. The stalk usually ends with a sudden pounce onto the prey. Red foxes sometimes kill more than they can eat and bury food in caches for later use. All foxes feed on carrion (animal carcasses) at times.
General Biology, Reproduction, and Behavior
Foxes are crepuscular animals, being most active during the early hours of darkness and very early morning hours. They do move about during the day, however, especially when it is dark and overcast.
Foxes are solitary animals except from the winter breeding season through midsummer, when mates and their young associate closely. Foxes have a wide variety of calls. They may bark, scream, howl, yap, growl, or make sounds similar to a hiccup. During winter a male will often give a yelling bark, “wo-wo-wo,” that seems to be important in warning other male foxes not to intrude on its territory. Red foxes may dig their own dens or use abandoned burrows of a woodchuck or badger. The same dens may be used for several generations. Gray foxes commonly use wood piles, rocky outcrops, hollow trees, or brush piles as den sites. Foxes use their urine and feces to mark their territories.
Mating in red foxes normally occurs from mid-January to early February. At higher latitudes (in the Arctic) mating occurs from late February to early March. Estrus in the vixen lasts 1 to 6 days, followed by a 51- to 53-day gestation period. Fox pups can be born from March in southern areas to May in the arctic zones. Red foxes generally produce 4 to 9 pups. Gray foxes usually have 3 to 7 pups per litter. Arctic foxes may have from 1 to 14 pups, but usually have 5 or 6. Foxes disperse from denning areas during the fall months and establish breeding areas in vacant territories, sometimes dispersing considerable distances.
Damage and Damage Identification
Foxes may cause serious problems for poultry producers. Turkeys raised in large range pens are subject to damage by foxes. Losses may be heavy in small farm flocks of chickens, ducks, and geese. Young pigs, lambs, and small pets are also killed by foxes. Damage can be difficult to detect because the prey is usually carried from the kill site to a den site, or uneaten parts are buried. Foxes usually attack the throat of young livestock, but some kill by inflicting multiple bites to the neck and back. Foxes do not have the size or strength to hold adult livestock or to crush the skull and large bones of their prey. They generally prefer the viscera and often begin feeding through an entry behind the ribs. Foxes will also scavenge carcasses, making the actual cause of death difficult to determine.
Pheasants, waterfowl, other game birds, and small game mammals are also preyed upon by foxes. At times, fox predation may be a significant mortality factor for upland and wetland birds, including some endangered species.
Rabies outbreaks are most prevalent among red foxes in southeastern Canada and occasionally in the eastern United States. The incidence of rabies in foxes has declined substantially since the mid-1960s for unexplained reasons. In 1990, there were only 197 reported cases of fox rabies in the United States as compared to 1,821 for raccoons and 1,579 for skunks. Rabid foxes are a threat to humans, domestic animals, and wildlife.
Legal Status
Foxes in the United States are listed as furbearers or given some status as game animals by most state governments. Most states allow for the taking of foxes to protect private property. Check with your state wildlife agency for regulations before undertaking fox control measures.
Damage Prevention and Control Methods
Exclusion
Net wire fences. Electric fences.
Cultural Methods
Protect livestock and poultry during most vulnerable periods (for example, shed lambing, farrowing pigs in protective enclosures).
Frightening
Flashing lights and exploders may provide temporary protection. Well-trained livestock guarding dogs may be effective in some situations.
Repellents
None are registered for livestock protection.
Fumigants
Gas cartridges for den fumigation, where registered.
Toxicants
M-44® sodium cyanide mechanical ejection device, in states where registered.
Trapping
Steel leghold traps. Cage or box traps. Snares.
Shooting
Predator calling techniques. Aerial hunting.
Other Methods
Den hunting. Remove young foxes from dens to reduce predation by adults.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The above information was adapted from PREVENTION AND CONTROL OF WILDLIFE DAMAGE with permission of the editors, Scott E. Hygnstrom, Robert M. Timm, and Gary E. Larson (Cooperative Extension Division, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources University of Nebraska-Lincoln, United States Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Animal Damage Control, Great Plains Agricultural Council Wildlife Committee).
