Woodpile Sketches - Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

The red fox is one of the most widespread carnivores in the entire world. It can be found in Canada, Alaska, almost all of United States, Europe, North Africa and almost all of Asia, including Japan... and at our woodpile!

A red fox, despite its name, may not be strictly red. In fact, in Minnesota, it can be nearly solid black, silver-black or red with dark bands across the back and shoulders, which is also called a "cross fox". During winter, the fox will grow "winter fur", a much thicker fur coat that will help it keep warm during the cold weather.

Foxes may grow to be the size of a small dog (15 to 20 pounds) and they belong to the dog (canid) family; but in the way it behaves, it is more like a cat. The fox prefers to hunt alone. Foxes have excellent hearing and can locate prey in the grass and in their underground burrows. They wait silently until the mouse or vole comes above ground, then the fox jumps high in the air and pounces on its prey like a cat. Foxes tend to be extremely possessive of their food and will not share it with others. Also like cats, foxes have vertically slit eyes, that are usually bright gold, orange or yellow.

Unlike other members of the dog family, foxes lack the facial muscles necessary to bare their teeth. This inability to display aggression the way that other dog like creatures do may be one of the reasons the fox has a reputation of being a cool character. It is also extremely intelligent and clever, so it is represented in literature as a trickster.

A fox can run up to 45 miles per hour and covers a lot of area in its daily routine. Foxes establish their own territories and, depending how abundant food is, that territory can be up to 15 or 20 square miles. Within this territory, a fox will have several food caches (hiding spots) and a few burrows or "dens". These dens are usually taken over from woodchucks or badgers and can be very deep (up to 30 or 40 feet deep). Despite having a number of locations to live, however, the fox prefers to be outside and most often sleeps out in the open.