Mammals · Canids

Red Fox

Vulpes vulpes

Least Concern

The red fox is the largest and most widely distributed of the true foxes, found across nearly the entire Northern Hemisphere and introduced to Australia. Small, quick and remarkably adaptable, it thrives everywhere from remote wilderness to city centers, relying on cunning and opportunism rather than pack cooperation or brute strength.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia

Phylum: Chordata

Class: Mammalia

Order: Carnivora

Family: Canidae

Subfamily: Caninae

Tribe: Canini

Genus: Vulpes

Species: vulpes

Related genera: Vulpes includes 12 true fox species, incl. Arctic, kit & fennec fox

Size

14–20 in. body length, 12–22 in. tail. Larger than most people expect from photos — roughly the size of a small dog.

Weight

8–15 lbs, though a thick winter coat makes them appear noticeably heavier than they are.

Habitat

Extraordinarily broad — forests, grasslands, mountains, farmland, suburbs and city centers across Europe, Asia, North Africa and North America.

Description

A slender, orange-red coat, black legs and ears, and a long bushy tail with a white tip, though black and silver color variants occur naturally.

Diet

Omnivore and opportunist — rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, fruit and, in urban areas, discarded human food.

Hearing

Extremely acute; a fox can hear a rodent moving under a foot of snow and pinpoints prey by sound alone before pouncing.

The mousing pounce

A distinctive vertical leap used to break through snow or vegetation onto hidden prey below, guided by the Earth’s magnetic field according to recent research.

Communication

Around 40 distinct vocalizations, including a notorious high-pitched scream during the winter breeding season, plus scent marking and body posture.

Gestation

About 52–53 days.

Birth & Litter Size

A litter of 4–6 kits (occasionally more), born blind and dark-furred in an underground den; coats lighten to red over several weeks.

Sexually Mature

About 10 months.

Life Span

3–4 years in the wild (much shorter than commonly assumed, due to high early mortality), up to 12–15 in captivity.

Did You Know?

Research suggests red foxes may sense Earth's magnetic field and use it like a targeting reticle to judge distance before their signature pouncing leap onto hidden prey.

Did You Know?

A red fox's eyes have vertical, slit-shaped pupils similar to a cat's — an adaptation for precise depth perception during low-light hunting, unlike the round pupils of most other canids.

Did You Know?

The Soviet-era "domesticated silver fox" breeding experiment, running continuously since 1959, has produced foxes that wag their tails, seek human affection and even develop floppy ears and piebald coats after only a few dozen generations of selecting purely for tameness.