North American Critter du Jour: Grey Fox

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Friday, August 16. 2019

North American Critter du Jour: Grey Fox

The Grey Fox is not a rare canid inhabiting much of the US and Central America. People know the Red Fox (imported from Europe for Virginia fox hunters before the Revolution) and the Coyote (which has invaded the Eastern US with the extirpation of the wolf), but few people know or ever see the crepuscular/nocturnal Grey Fox, a native canid.

I suspect that sometimes Grey Fox is mistaken for Coyote.

A cool fact about Grey Fox is their tree-climbing ability.

Posted by The Barrister in Natural History and Conservation at 14:16 | Comments (8) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I see them quite often in my rural North Georgia home. I think there is a breeding pair in the woods nearby.
Never seen them climb a tree, though.

Other animals I see there: A pisspot full of birds. Red Fox, Rabbits, occasional Bears, Cayotes, Deer and, of course, my neighbors cows, dogs and horses. And a few feral cats.

#1 oolioo on 2019-08-16 14:59 (Reply)

We were fortunate enough to have a gray fox family raise two kits in our yard (central Texas) last year. We had seen the mom cut through our yard several times and then were shocked to see what we originally thought was a squirrel run down a tree toward her. We slowly realized that it was a tiny fox climbing down the tree followed by its sibling. We watched them nurse and then play in our yard for almost half an hour. They chased each other up and down trees as if it was nothing. We saw them grow up over the next month or so tended by both parents, and then they all disappeared. Presumably the parents had chased them off to find their own territory.

They are very pretty animals and the only members of the canine family that can climb trees. They are also fairly unlikely to raid henhouses as red foxes do. Gray foxes will eat mice and such, but around here mostly eat fruits and berries.

#2 T Migratorious on 2019-08-16 15:08 (Reply)

Cute critters. They regularly come up to my house to look for bird seed spilled on the ground or to get a drink of water from the cats' outdoor water bowls. Woke up one night to noises on the roof; went upstairs to look out the window and there was a pair of gray foxes with two kits eating the wild grapes that overhang the roof. Amazing to watch the foxes running up and down the trees and jumping from branch to branch. And I'm in south-central Texas.

#3 Barry on 2019-08-16 15:26 (Reply)

Not to be missed is the International Fox Museum in Canada. I was there last month. It is small but packed with information, displays, history, pelts to touch and more. Fox farming (theirs was the silver fox which they explained is a rarer variation of the red) was a huge business in Canada until fox fur went out of style. Fox pelts are not taken until the fox is six years old, and many of the farmed foxes became sort of family pets.

http://culturesummerside.com/international-fox-museum/

#4 Missy on 2019-08-16 16:24 (Reply)

I suspect that sometimes Grey Fox is mistaken for Coyote. I live in Western NC and yesterday saw what I thought was a coyote. Now I'm wondering. I know we used to have foxes in my neighborhood but I haven't seen any for over a decade. Maybe they're back! I know we have bears because they're ripping up my orchard. It wouldn't be so bad if they'd just eat the fruit, but they break branches off the trees. Bastards...

#5 snopercod on 2019-08-16 18:07 (Reply)

My understanding is that a 2012 paper found that while red fox were imported in colonial times that the existing NE populations are the result of range expansion of native American populations rather than European in origin. https://www.mammalogy.org/articles/origin-recently-established-red-fox-populations-united-states-translocations-or-natural-ran

Is there new evidence?

Unfortunately haven't seen a grey fox in rural NJ in over 50 years. Used to see them occasionally hunting as a kid. Asked members of the local fox hunt club and no-one can remember seeing a grey fox though red fox and coyotes are plentiful. (Fishers have reappeared after a 50 year absence.)

#6 Domer on 2019-08-16 20:22 (Reply)

I've seen one climb a tree as nimbly as any cat, in daylight, too, right outside a window.

#7 Texan99 on 2019-08-17 09:21 (Reply)

A grey fox climbed the Elm tree ten feet out from my back door two weeks ago and ate my turkey hen . He only ate her head .

#8 robert orians on 2019-08-18 19:19 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Friday, August 16. 2019

North American Critter du Jour: Grey Fox