Once they catch sight of something, they creep up on it and pounce, launching themselves vertically into the air and then down on their catch. When hunting live prey, they stalk slowly through their habitat. They will eat eggs, fruits, and seeds in addition to small animals, Animal Diversity Web reports. They eat a lot of rodents and small mammals, but they are considered opportunistic eaters, making a meal out of whatever is available. In addition to their exceptional hearing, a good sense of smell and an ability to quickly see moving objects helps them as they hunt for prey. They can even hear mice and other rodents digging underground or under a cover of snow and will dig down to find them. They are able to hear the squeak of a mouse from 100 feet away, according to The Nature Conservancy. Red foxes must hunt to survive, and they rely on their keen sense of hearing to help them with this. They can use their ears to radiate heat and cool their bodies. Their seemingly oversized ears are useful in the hot North African climate where they live. The most noticeable feature about these diminutive foxes is their ears, which are about 6 inches long. It's between 9 inches and 16 inches long and weighs just 2 pounds to 3 pounds, according to National Geographic. While the red fox is the largest fox in the world, the tiny fennec fox is the smallest. Arctic foxes inhabit the tundra of northern Canada as well as part of Eurasia, Greenland and Iceland, Animal Diversity Web reports. Kit foxes are predominantly found in the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico, while swift foxes live in the western United States and Canada, most notably Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico and Wyoming. In addition to red foxes, other foxes from the Vulpes genus in North America are Arctic foxes, kit foxes and swift foxes. Animals in both the Vulpes and Urocyon genuses belong to the Canidae family, which also includes coyotes, jackals and wolves. It belongs to the Urocyon genus, with Urocyon meaning "tailed dog," according to Animal Diversity Web. The gray fox, which can sometimes be confused with the red fox, does not belong to the Vulpes genus. Most foxes belong to the Vulpes genus, which includes 12 species, although half are known only through fossil records. Although they are the most common and widespread, there are not alone among foxes. The red fox is the largest of all the fox species in the world, standing about 16 inches tall and between 17 inches and 35 inches long and weighing up to 30 pounds, according to Animal Diversity Web. They are the largest fox in the world, but far from the only one They have gray or black legs and white and gray patches on their chests and necks, according to the National Wildlife Federation. While red foxes have white-tipped tails, gray foxes have black-tipped tails.Īnd even among red foxes that do sport the namesake red fur, they aren't all red. This is also what helps distinguish between red foxes and gray foxes, which are similar in appearance and have ranges that overlap. No matter what color a red fox is, they all have a white-tipped tail, which is a key identification feature for red foxes, the Park Service reports. In addition to rusty red, these foxes can also be silver, black or a cross between red and silver, which is a color morph known as cross fox. Several other color variations are possible, and sometimes foxes from the same litter can even be different colors, according to the National Park Service. The rusty red color for which red foxes are named is the most common color for these animals, but it's not the only one. By fall, they are ready to leave the family unit and live on their own. The kits are born blind and helpless, cared for by both parents for as long as 12 weeks before they are able to venture out for short trips to explore the world. Mating season for red foxes usually occurs in January or February, with a litter of anywhere between one and 11 kits born in March or April, according to Animal Diversity Web. They typically sleep hidden away above ground, but they sometimes dig burrows or move into a burrow abandoned by another animal, according to Wildlife Illinois. They also create dens for raising their young, called kits. In Illinois, red foxes can live in a variety of habitat areas. Although they are quite common, they do a good job of remaining unseen, being most active at night or in the early morning hours. Thanks to their distinctive appearance, red foxes aren't easy to confuse with other animals across Will County.
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