Red Fox
The Red Fox is a member of the Canidae family and is a part of the order Carnivora within the class of mammals. Canids include domestic dogs and the various species of wolves, foxes, coyotes, dingoes, jackals and wild dogs.
The Red Fox is the most widely distributed and populous canid in the world. It occurs across Europe including the UK, in Africa north of the Sahara Desert, throughout Asia apart from extreme south east Asia and across north America apart from most of the south west United States and Mexico. It is absent in Iceland, Greenland, Arctic islands, the most northern parts of central Siberia and in extreme deserts. It is not present in New Zealand but it became established across Australia through successive introductions by settlers in the 1830s in the British colonies of Van Diemen's Land (as early as 1833) and the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (as early as 1845) for the purpose of the traditional English sport of fox hunting.
The Red Fox is a remarkably resourceful animal and it is able to cope in a very wide range of different environmental conditions from sub-tropical regions to icy tundra. It can be found in almost every habitat: sea cliffs, sand dunes, salt marshes, peat bogs, high mountains, woodland and farmland and it is particularly abundant in urban areas.
In the UK, where there are no longer any other native wild canids, the Red Fox is usually referred to simply as the Fox.
A male Red Fox is called a dog whilst a female is called a vixen. A young Red Fox is called either a cub, kit or pup. A group of Red Foxes is called a “skulk”.
The Red Fox has a typical head and body length of 2 to 3 feet and it can reach 5.5 feet including the tail. In the UK, the average weight of an adult male is around 14 pounds whilst adult females are around 12 pounds. The global range for adults is 6.5 to 35 pounds. The largest confirmed specimen was a dog Red Fox which was shot on a farm near Aberdeen in Scotland in 2012 which weighed 38 pounds 1 ounce. Larger animals weighing 41 pounds or more have been reported but remain unverified.
As the name suggests, the Red Fox generally has rusty reddish-brown fur but the colour of the fur can be highly variable and this can give rise to black, white, silver or cross morphs. The long, bushy tail, known as a brush or sweep, is often tipped with white fur, the backs of the ears are black as are part of the legs and the underparts are white. The eyes are amber. It has a slender muzzle with white fur on the top lip and some individuals have black tear marks. The Red Fox lacks the facial muscles necessary to bare its teeth unlike most other canids.
There is very little sexual dimorphism in the Red Fox (i.e. the sexes look very similar) but males are on average larger than females with broader heads and longer and narrower snouts than females as they age. During the breeding season the cream-coloured scrotum of the male is descended whilst females with young cubs will often have bald stomachs and enlarged teats.
The Red Fox has strong legs which allows it to reach speeds of approximately 30 miles per hour, a great benefit to catching prey or escaping from predators.
The Red Fox is mainly carnivorous but it is generally classed as an omnivore. It feeds mainly on small rodents such as mice, voles and rabbits. However, it will also eat birds, insects, earthworms, grasshoppers, beetles, blackberries, plums and molluscs and crayfish, amphibians, small reptiles and fish. It is opportunistic and will eat almost anything it finds including carrion and human rubbish.
The Red Fox is a skilled hunter and is able to sprint, turn and jump with surprising ease for a dog. With its acute sense of hearing, it can locate small mammals in thick grass and it is able to jump high in the air to pounce on its prey. Surplus food is buried and stored (cached) in shallow holes. This resourcefulness is one of the main reasons that it has been able to populate urban areas with great success.
The Red Fox is primarily crepuscular and nocturnal being most active at dusk, during the night and at dawn. It has a tendency to be more nocturnal in areas of great human interference. It can sometimes be seen diurnally lying in thick vegetation or patrolling territories. Diurnal activity may also be more common in cub-rearing months in more rural areas.
The Red Fox is generally solitary with each individual claiming its own territory and it usually pairs up only during the winter. It can occur in family groups where resources allow such as in urban areas. When in groups, family members may help care for subsequent litters (guard, feed and play with cubs) but subordinates rarely breed.
Territories may be as large as 20 square miles but in habitats with abundant food sources they can be much smaller and typically less than 5 square miles. In urban areas, territories can be less than 1 square mile. Territories are often composed of 2 areas: a larger home range area containing a smaller core area. Home ranges may overlap with neighbours but core areas do not and they are violently defended against interlopers.
Several dens or earths are utilised within these territories. These may be newly dug out or claimed from other Red Foxes or other mammals. A larger main den is used for winter living, birthing and rearing of young whereas smaller dens are dispersed throughout the territory for emergency and food storage purposes. A series of tunnels often connects the smaller dens with the main den.
Socially, the Red Fox communicates with body language and a variety of vocalisations. It also communicates with scent, marking food and territorial boundary lines with urine and faeces.
The mating season for the Red Fox is December to February when the vixen can be heard at night uttering her eerie, high pitched scream. Red Foxes primarily form monogamous pairs each winter. The pair stay together to act as parents to the new born cubs after a gestation period of between 51 and 53 days. An average litter of 4 to 6 cubs are born each year from March to late April. Cubs are born blind and the adult female remains with them in a den for 2 to 3 weeks when they are fed by the male. The cubs’ eyes open in about 2 weeks and they take their first exploratory steps out of the den by 5 weeks in early May. By 8 to 10 weeks they are fully weaned. The cubs are independent by 3 to 5 months but usually remain with their mother until September when they disperse at approximately 8 to 10 months old to find territories and mates of their own. Males are more prone to dispersal than females.
The oldest (captive) Red Fox was almost 24 years old. Typically, however, the Red Fox lives for only 2 years, especially in urban areas, although more generally a range of 2 to 8 years can be expected. The upper limit in the wild is generally 6 or 8 years.
The Red Fox is not under threat in any of its range due to the ability to cope well around humans and its resourcefulness and it is not considered to be endangered. It is hunted for sport throughout much of range although this seems to have little impact on overall numbers. Many are killed by cars in urban areas and mange has decreased numbers in some areas recently. Predators of adults in most of the UK are non-existent (potentially the Golden Eagle in Scotland) although cubs may fall victim to various predators such as birds of prey and other carnivores.
Humans have a long history with the Red Fox. Some regard it as nothing more than chicken-stealing vermin to be exterminated whilst others see it as a beautiful and fascinating addition to the native fauna of many countries around the world. It is one of the few mammals seeming to thrive in an increasingly developed and polluted world.
Love it or hate it, the Red Fox has an important role to play in our terrestrial ecosystems. Standing defiant against centuries of almost limitless human persecution, the Red Fox's history and relationship with humans seems set to continue for generations to come.
Date: 6th December 2023
Location: Laindon, Essex
The Red Fox is the most widely distributed and populous canid in the world. It occurs across Europe including the UK, in Africa north of the Sahara Desert, throughout Asia apart from extreme south east Asia and across north America apart from most of the south west United States and Mexico. It is absent in Iceland, Greenland, Arctic islands, the most northern parts of central Siberia and in extreme deserts. It is not present in New Zealand but it became established across Australia through successive introductions by settlers in the 1830s in the British colonies of Van Diemen's Land (as early as 1833) and the Port Phillip District of New South Wales (as early as 1845) for the purpose of the traditional English sport of fox hunting.
The Red Fox is a remarkably resourceful animal and it is able to cope in a very wide range of different environmental conditions from sub-tropical regions to icy tundra. It can be found in almost every habitat: sea cliffs, sand dunes, salt marshes, peat bogs, high mountains, woodland and farmland and it is particularly abundant in urban areas.
In the UK, where there are no longer any other native wild canids, the Red Fox is usually referred to simply as the Fox.
A male Red Fox is called a dog whilst a female is called a vixen. A young Red Fox is called either a cub, kit or pup. A group of Red Foxes is called a “skulk”.
The Red Fox has a typical head and body length of 2 to 3 feet and it can reach 5.5 feet including the tail. In the UK, the average weight of an adult male is around 14 pounds whilst adult females are around 12 pounds. The global range for adults is 6.5 to 35 pounds. The largest confirmed specimen was a dog Red Fox which was shot on a farm near Aberdeen in Scotland in 2012 which weighed 38 pounds 1 ounce. Larger animals weighing 41 pounds or more have been reported but remain unverified.
As the name suggests, the Red Fox generally has rusty reddish-brown fur but the colour of the fur can be highly variable and this can give rise to black, white, silver or cross morphs. The long, bushy tail, known as a brush or sweep, is often tipped with white fur, the backs of the ears are black as are part of the legs and the underparts are white. The eyes are amber. It has a slender muzzle with white fur on the top lip and some individuals have black tear marks. The Red Fox lacks the facial muscles necessary to bare its teeth unlike most other canids.
There is very little sexual dimorphism in the Red Fox (i.e. the sexes look very similar) but males are on average larger than females with broader heads and longer and narrower snouts than females as they age. During the breeding season the cream-coloured scrotum of the male is descended whilst females with young cubs will often have bald stomachs and enlarged teats.
The Red Fox has strong legs which allows it to reach speeds of approximately 30 miles per hour, a great benefit to catching prey or escaping from predators.
The Red Fox is mainly carnivorous but it is generally classed as an omnivore. It feeds mainly on small rodents such as mice, voles and rabbits. However, it will also eat birds, insects, earthworms, grasshoppers, beetles, blackberries, plums and molluscs and crayfish, amphibians, small reptiles and fish. It is opportunistic and will eat almost anything it finds including carrion and human rubbish.
The Red Fox is a skilled hunter and is able to sprint, turn and jump with surprising ease for a dog. With its acute sense of hearing, it can locate small mammals in thick grass and it is able to jump high in the air to pounce on its prey. Surplus food is buried and stored (cached) in shallow holes. This resourcefulness is one of the main reasons that it has been able to populate urban areas with great success.
The Red Fox is primarily crepuscular and nocturnal being most active at dusk, during the night and at dawn. It has a tendency to be more nocturnal in areas of great human interference. It can sometimes be seen diurnally lying in thick vegetation or patrolling territories. Diurnal activity may also be more common in cub-rearing months in more rural areas.
The Red Fox is generally solitary with each individual claiming its own territory and it usually pairs up only during the winter. It can occur in family groups where resources allow such as in urban areas. When in groups, family members may help care for subsequent litters (guard, feed and play with cubs) but subordinates rarely breed.
Territories may be as large as 20 square miles but in habitats with abundant food sources they can be much smaller and typically less than 5 square miles. In urban areas, territories can be less than 1 square mile. Territories are often composed of 2 areas: a larger home range area containing a smaller core area. Home ranges may overlap with neighbours but core areas do not and they are violently defended against interlopers.
Several dens or earths are utilised within these territories. These may be newly dug out or claimed from other Red Foxes or other mammals. A larger main den is used for winter living, birthing and rearing of young whereas smaller dens are dispersed throughout the territory for emergency and food storage purposes. A series of tunnels often connects the smaller dens with the main den.
Socially, the Red Fox communicates with body language and a variety of vocalisations. It also communicates with scent, marking food and territorial boundary lines with urine and faeces.
The mating season for the Red Fox is December to February when the vixen can be heard at night uttering her eerie, high pitched scream. Red Foxes primarily form monogamous pairs each winter. The pair stay together to act as parents to the new born cubs after a gestation period of between 51 and 53 days. An average litter of 4 to 6 cubs are born each year from March to late April. Cubs are born blind and the adult female remains with them in a den for 2 to 3 weeks when they are fed by the male. The cubs’ eyes open in about 2 weeks and they take their first exploratory steps out of the den by 5 weeks in early May. By 8 to 10 weeks they are fully weaned. The cubs are independent by 3 to 5 months but usually remain with their mother until September when they disperse at approximately 8 to 10 months old to find territories and mates of their own. Males are more prone to dispersal than females.
The oldest (captive) Red Fox was almost 24 years old. Typically, however, the Red Fox lives for only 2 years, especially in urban areas, although more generally a range of 2 to 8 years can be expected. The upper limit in the wild is generally 6 or 8 years.
The Red Fox is not under threat in any of its range due to the ability to cope well around humans and its resourcefulness and it is not considered to be endangered. It is hunted for sport throughout much of range although this seems to have little impact on overall numbers. Many are killed by cars in urban areas and mange has decreased numbers in some areas recently. Predators of adults in most of the UK are non-existent (potentially the Golden Eagle in Scotland) although cubs may fall victim to various predators such as birds of prey and other carnivores.
Humans have a long history with the Red Fox. Some regard it as nothing more than chicken-stealing vermin to be exterminated whilst others see it as a beautiful and fascinating addition to the native fauna of many countries around the world. It is one of the few mammals seeming to thrive in an increasingly developed and polluted world.
Love it or hate it, the Red Fox has an important role to play in our terrestrial ecosystems. Standing defiant against centuries of almost limitless human persecution, the Red Fox's history and relationship with humans seems set to continue for generations to come.
Date: 6th December 2023
Location: Laindon, Essex
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