Red Foxes
By: Josephine Walker
Must Get The Mouse
I see him
As the sun sets the brave red fox leaps into action! He get's low to the ground and starts to sneak up on a rabbit, slowly sneaking up on it the fox pounces! The rabbit is now the foxes dinner.
Get him
A red fox will eat almost eat anything it can find or catch. This allows it to eat and survive better than most other animals. However it's favorite food is mice. In the winter a fox will listen for mice. It can hear them from 150 yards away. When it hears a mouse it will stand up on it's hind legs and look for the mouse. When it sees the mouse it walks slowly towards it and dives 5 feet under ground snatching the mouse up for dinner.
What season is it?
A foxes diet varies on which season it is. In the spring and summer a red fox will eat ripe fruit that falls to the ground and berries from trees and bushes. In the fall a fox will eat bunnies, birds, and other food left over by a hunter or wolf. A fox will eat mice any time of year.
A fox looks around for a mouse
A fox eats his fill on berries
A fox prowls up a hill in search of food
I need a house
Have you ever wondered what it's like to live like a fox? Or live under ground even? Well a red fox vixen sure does. She lives under ground for 3 months with her babies. Want to build a under ground den like a fox?
House hunting
The first thing a fox will do is find a vacant home of a woodchuck or badger. If they can't find a hole they'll dig a new one.
I need it to be bigger
After the foxes find a hole they like they'll enlarge it. Or at least the vixen will. when their done the den will normally fifty feet long give or take a few feet.
But how do I get in and out?
To finish off their new hole the foxes will add entrances and exits. There are normally 5 entrances and at the least 10 exits in case of emergency.
Moving time!
Once the den is finished the vixen will move in and have her babies!
A red fox baby will grow up in the den
A fox sticks his head out of his den
A finished fox den
Red Fox vs. House Cat
They're the same right? WRONG!
Many people think that the red fox and the house cat are very alike. While this is true, they are also very different.
But, how are they different?
The red fox is not in the cat family as many people think. In fact the red fox is in the dog family. As you most likely know the house at is in the cat family. Red foxes live in dens most of the time and cats normally live in houses. Foxes will mate with different fox every year, while cats normally mate with another cat and stay that way.
Their still kind of the same right? CORRECT!
Even though red foxes and cats are different they have some similar traits. The red fox and the house cat have very similar tails and feet. Their tails are very bushy. They also have hunting skills match up pretty well. A cat and a red fox have great brain power and agility.
The fox project
Foxes are amazing but there's one problem. Red foxes are being hurt in the wild! Golden eagles and snowy owls swoop down and snatch up pups.Or a bobcat, wolf, or a coyote will hurt young foxes and even kill them. However itś not only mammals itś also the bugs. Blood sucking mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks kill foxes if the fox gets too many bites. And then there is the lack of food.
Is there a solution?
Luckily there's a solution for all of this. The fox project! They save injured and abandoned fox pups. The fox project also takes in hurt older or adult foxes. Once the foxes are better they take them to foster homes if their babies and if their adults theyĺl set them free. Also when the babies are ready theyĺl set them free.
A golden eagle
A snowy owl
A wolf
A red fox in hiding
A bobcat
A coyote
Don't kill the foxes!!!
The fox is dead
The shot goes off! The fox is dead. The dogs howl and the men grab the fox for his skin.Killing for fur!
Red foxes get shot every day. Hunters shoot them just for their skin and fur. Men get out with dogs and go out and hunt red foxes.
There's poison too?
It's not only hunting that's hurting the red foxes. Farmers set out poisoned foods and fox pups them killing their population. People are setting out traps to kill foxes. This is all for a piece of fur and skin.
Population drop and over population
Because of all this the fox population is dropping and fast! Some people believe red foxes are hurting their animals. However if we lost foxes farms would be over run by the mice and rats that the foxes normally eat. They would over populate and we would have no choice but to allow the foxes to come back.