8592 South Underground Place

Montane Life Zone, CO 80754

Age:6

Food: Small Rodents

Place: Rock under the tree

Time of Year: Summer

Friends: Sarah the Beaver and Charlotte the Bobcat

If any part of this journal is copied the FBI (Fox Bureau of Investigation) will be contacted.

©Red Fox Publishing Press November 2009

Aspen, CO

Have you ever heard the expression ‘’Clever as a fox?’’ Did you know the Native Americans admired the fox for its speed and cunning and that they called their most powerful warriors Kit Fox? The Red Fox is a magnificent and unique animal because of its description, hunting, lifestyle, and habitat.

We are sm

all

but very tough!

The Red Fox is a very elegant animal. Our coat can be blond, red, brown, black, or silver but mine is a hue of red. I am not just red, but own white patches on the tip of my tail, my chest, belly, and on some other Red Foxes, the lips! Black fur covers my leg which resembles stockings, but the black fur is also on my ears and feet. Another type of fox, not me, is a cross fox, their markings are a dark brown or black cross pattern on the back and shoulders. My tail helps me balance and compose quick turns and I possess long legs which help me sprint fast. I comprise of five toes on my forefoot and four on my hind foot, the fifth toe on my forefoot is my dewclaw; it doesn’t touch the ground as I walk. In the winter stiff hairs grow between my toe pads which helps me walk on slippery surfaces such as mud. My forty two teeth are hard and sharp and I grow a new layer of enamel each year. To figure out how old I am just count the layers of enamel on my teeth. The incisors catch, hold prey, and clean fur while the back teeth are flattened to crush plants. My teeth and tongue help remove ice that gathers between my toes. I am as enormous as a pet cat and as long and tall as a beagle. I measure thirty nine to fifty nine inches long and weigh nine to twelve pounds fully grown. Almost half of my length is made up by my tail!!

My hunting comprises of my senses, food, and predators. Our eyesight is adapted to hunting at night, dawn, and dusk. In bright light my eyes narrow down to slits and our large ears turn to hear the slightest sound. With them we can hear a mouse moving one hundred feet away!!! Our smell is the keenest out of all our senses. We can smell odors one mile away!!! We are able to locate rustling sounds and are usually within one degree away of where the sound actually is located. Our hearing differs from most other mammals and we are most sensitive to low frequency sounds. We consume many things such as mice, voles, birds, small mammals, squirrels, rabbits, mice, crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers, beetles, crayfish, fruits, berries, grasses, and eggs but we savor small rodents.

I can

smell

odors 1

mile

away!

Some Red Fox’s reside in the city and suburbs; if they need to they may consume rubbish from big black trash cans. We are omnivores, which means we consume plants and meat and our hunting time is two hours before sunset to four hours after sunrise. We contemplate schemes that involve tricking our prey. A Red Fox will hoax crows into being their dinner by playing dead and waiting for a crow to start pecking them, then we catch and consume the crow. Hunting lessons for the kits begin after they are one week old. The vixen [female] and dog [male] drop mice into the den for the kits to chew. After a while of this they drop prey outside the den so the kits can search for it. Then they venture on hunts with the dog. The kits need to catch their own food before the dog allows them to consume. We may wait a long time before we catch food but we are expert trackers because of our senses and we act with lightning speed. As soon as we spot our prey we pounce and then hold it with our front paws. Some of our predators that abhor and consume us are bears, coyotes, pumas, wolverines, dogs, hawks, and eagles.

Red Foxes, I

loathe them!

My lifestyle is made up of our mating, babies, playtime, and leaving the den. The dog uses scent, given from a gland beneath their tail, to attract a vixen. Some of us mate for several years or life!!! If two dogs want the same vixen they both try to impress her by feuding, the fight may include kicking, clawing, and scratching. May the most veritable dog win!! We mate in late winter and the kits are born in the spring. We are not great den diggers so we search for a den that another animal used. The parents locate extra dens in case of danger and we store the food that is left over from hunting in these dens . One entrance faces the south, so the den will feel warm and another entrance possesses a clearing where the kits play. Before the babies are born the vixen quits hunting and the dog drops food outside the den so the vixen won’t let the dog in.

Red Foxes

are not great

den diggers

so we borrow

another

animal’s den.

Any food the vixen doesn’t consume is saved for the kit’s nursing. Four to nine kits make up a litter and they are helpless for ten days and they can’t hear or see but they nurse all day. As soon as the kits are a month old they are able to play, but everything is new and strange. They are easily frightened, perplexed, and may even quiver! At a month old the kits are able to consume meat. The vixen regurgitates it so the meat is easy on the kit’s stomach and teeth. Playtime for the kits starts in the summertime. These elated kits play-fight; pounce on live prey the vixen and dog bring back for them, and accompany their parents on hunts. Right around September everyone leaves the den. The parents depart from the den first, then the dogs, and finally the vixens. Next mating season the kits are all grown up and search for mates of their own. That happened to me three years ago!

Playing helps me build up my strength.

We are able to adapt and thrive in many places. We survive all around the world, North America, Europe, and even Asia!!! I live in the wonderful U.S.A. I reside in Colorado, where there are many life zones. We reside in the Montane, [Hey, that’s where I reside!!] Subalpine, Alpine, and Riparian. Even though we are able to live in many places, there are a lot of small areas that we reside. If the vixen doesn’t discover a burrow we are able to reside in a small cave, hollow tree, or thicket. Our territory could be in a wooded area, forests, farmland, and sometimes even the city or suburbs.

My den is very special to me. It protects me from predators

I am a unique animal because of my tail that helps me keep my balance and senses that help me hunt. We are also special because the parents locate extra dens and we can reside in Colorado. Now if you catch a glimpse of red you’ll know it’s a Red Fox.

If you ever need to know more about me, you will

discover me here.

I

almost

bit

you!

http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/graphics/redfox1sm.jpg

http://campus.murraystate.edu/academic/faculty/howard.wahiteman/field/mammals/red-fox-art-slack.jpg

http://www.ejphoto.com/images_CA/CA_RedFox02.jpg

http://images.enature.com/tracks/images/localguide/ma0021_b.gif

http://www.gardenwildlife.co.uk/images/Fox%20Pictures/output/images/Red%2520Fox%2520013%2520POSTER.jpg

http://www.ejphoto.com/images_MN/MN_BlackBear07.jpg

http://www.chriskaylerphotography.com/blog/wp-c

http://www.wilddelmarva.com/wp-content/uploads/red-fox-yawning-18255.jpg

http://www.jacksonmillfarm.com/New/Photo/redfox.jpg

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Switzer, Merebeth. Red Fox. Spain: Grolier Limited, 1986. Print.

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Lepthien, Emilie U., and Joan Kalbacken. Foxes. Canada: Childrens Press, 1993. Print.

Green, Jen. Red Fox. China: Grolier, 2008. Print.