There are four kinds of foxes in North America: the Arctic Fox, the Gray Fox, the Kit Fox and the familiar Red Fox.
The Arctic Fox, as its name suggests, live at, near or above the Arctic Circle. They are brown during the summer and turn white in the winter. As many arctic mammals do, they have small ears, which protects the blood flow during the freezing winter months. Arctic Foxes live primarily on mice, voles or other small mammals.
The Gray Fox lives from extreme southern Canada throughout the US, with the exception of Montana (of course), Wyoming and most of Washington (what, it occurs in Idaho???). and ranges into Mexico and Central America. The Gray Fox is more cat-like than dog-like and can climb trees like a cat! Because of this ability they are sometimes called “Tree Fox” or “Cat Fox”. The pupils of their eyes are also oval like a cat’s eyes, rather than slit-shaped like other foxes.
At only five pounds, the Kit Fox is the smallest member of the fox family and lives is semi-arid to desert habitat in the American Southwest and parts of northern and central Mexico. Just as the Arctic Fox has smaller ears to help hold in body heat, the Kit fox has the largest ears to help release body heat and keep it cool in its desert habitat.
The most common fox is the Red Fox, which lives in a variety of habitats, from woodland and forest, to open fields and sage brush. They are also fairly common in small towns, suburbs, and even cities! The name Red Fox is somewhat misleading however. While the most common color is a rusty red, they come in a variety of coat colors. The Cross Fox in a lighter version of the Red Fox, and has a dorsal stripe down it’s back and another stripe across the shoulders on each side, hence the name “Cross Fox”. The “red” fox can also be solid black, which is the rarest color, but if the black guard hairs are tipped in light gray, it is then known as a Silver Fox. The different colors are not sub-species, but are all the same animal, and kits of every color variation can be born in the same litter.
A typical litter is 4 to 5 pups and they start exploring outside near their den around mid-May.
Foxes can make over 40 different sounds, and use the earth’s magnetic field to hunt!
How?? I need to research this!
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