Mammals Photo Click 9: Red Fox (2).

Vulpes vulpes

Photographed in Spain.

The Red Fox is the largest fox of the ‘true’ foxes. It is also the most widely distributed member of the order Carnivora.

It is distributed in the entire Northern Hemisphere, including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus parts of North Africa. It has also been introduced to Australia by British settlers, where it became a serious threat to many endemic Australian mammal and bird species.

Currently 46 subspecies are recognized. They are divided into two categories; the large northern foxes and the smaller, southern grey desert foxes of Asia and North Africa.

Photographed in Spain.

Foxes live in pairs or small groups, consisting in either family groups, or groups with kinship ties. They can either have a home territory which they mark with urine or be completely itinerant, with no fixed home.

They are fascinating animals. They are very adaptive and have become sympatric with humans, living close to human habitations, in both suburban and urban habitats, including towns, villages and even in larger cities.

This proximity to humans, have led to a long history of association with man, both in folklore and mythology, but also for having been extensively hunted for many centuries either as a pest or for it’s fur.

In folklore and mythology, it is typically associated with being cunning or with deceit. Also with being able to transform into or pretend to be human. It features in various cultures, from native American and Inuit to European, from Arab to Chinese and Japanese. It is even mentioned in the Bible.

Photographed in Spain.

Photographed in Spain.

They are omnivores with a very varied diet. They prey on a large variety of animals, but will also eat fruit and berries and will even eat certain plants. The most common and favorite prey are small rodents, but will also take rabbits and small undulates such as young deer and small sheep. They prey also on birds, reptiles and invertebrates. They will also feed on carcasses and flotsam, such as dead fish. In areas where their range overlaps with smaller species of foxes, they tend to chase them away or even prey on them. In return, foxes are prey to larger predators such as Wolves and Coyotes, larger felines such as Cougars and Lynxes and also large birds of prey such as Golden Eagle and Eagle Owl.

Males are called tods or dogs, while females are called vixens. Cubs are called kits.

Photographed in Spain.