Red Fox

Red Fox

(Vulpes vulpes)

Habitat

Although a native of Britain, the Red Fox is also found throughout Canada, Alaska, America, Europe, Australia, North Africa and almost all of Asia including Japan. Red Foxes live in a wide range of habitats including forest, tundra, prairie, desert, farmland and suburban environments.

Diet

Foxes are omnivores, living on a diet of both plant and animal matter. Vegetation consumed includes grasses, grains, fungi, berries and fruit. Their carnivorous diet includes small mammals (native rats, possums, wallabies, bilbies, numbats, rabbits), birds, reptiles, eggs, fish, earthworms, insects and carrion. Urban dwelling foxes will also scavenge through human rubbish. A fox will eat about 1/2kg of food per day. Foxes have very small stomaches so any left over food is stored away for later, in a hole called a cache.

Breeding

Foxes breed once a year. Both sexes mature in the first year (10-12 months). Females have a gestation period of around 53 days and kits (baby foxes) are born around August/September. Litters vary from 1-13 kits, with the average litter containing 5 kits. At birth the kits only weigh 50-150g. They are initally blind and open their eyes 9-14 days later. Kits venture out of the den when they are 4-5 weeks old and they are fully weaned by 8-10 weeks of age.

Hunting

The Red Fox is a solitary hunter, hunting primarily at dusk, dawn and at night. Although mostly nocturnal, they will hunt through the day if it is necessary, especially in winter months. The ‘mouse leap’ is a hunting technique designed for catching rodents and small mammals. The prey is located through the fox’s sense of smell and hearing, then the fox launches itself through the air at its target pinning it down and immobilising it with a series of quick bites. All the carcass is eaten including bone and fur.