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Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
Quick ID Tips:
- Typical canine track showing four toes, claws and a triangular heel pad
- Heavily furred foot often makes pads appear less distinct than other canids
- Shows a distinctive bar across the heel pad of the front track
Common throughout most of the Midwest, red foxes adjust well to human development. Their precise, narrow trails can often be found crossing wilderness trails, farmland and even urban golf courses.
Front Track
Length: 1 3/4" – 2 1/2", Averaging: 2"; Width: 1 1/2" – 2 1/8", Averaging: 1 3/4"
Four toes, with claws usually showing. The bottom of the foot is heavily furred. A triangular palm pad protrudes sharply though the hair and often leaves a straight or boomerang-shaped “heel bar,” unique to the red fox. Furred foot may make toe and palm pads appear small and indistinct, greatly exaggerating the negative space between pads.
Hind Track
Length: 1 1/2" – 2 1/2", Averaging: 1 7/8"; Width: 1 1/4" – 1 7/8", Averaging: 1 1/2"
Four toes with claws usually showing. Like the front foot, the hind foot is heavily furred, but the palm pad does not protrude as sharply and rarely leaves a “bar” in the track. Often indistinct, the palm pad usually looks like a tall, narrow triangle, or sometimes a dot. Similar to front track, but usually narrower and more delicate-looking.
Gaits
Typically trots in a direct register or side trot. Direct register trots may leave an extremely narrow trail with all tracks in a single nearly straight line. Lopes or gallops when chasing or fleeing. Often walks when in deep snow, but may bound, leaving a series of whole-body imprints.
Habitat
Prefers a mixture of cover and open space. Adapts readily to human presence and is common in cropland, suburban areas, and even urban areas with enough brush or woods. Favors mixed habitat of brushland and fields.
Other Signs
Scat: One or more long droppings ranging from 3/8" – 3/4" in diameter and 3" – 6" long. Structure varies with diet. Often contains bone fragments. In summer, scat may include grasses, fruit seeds and insect remains. Often deposited at trail junctions or on raised surfaces. Easily confused with gray fox or coyote scat, though coyote scat is usually longer.
Dens: Found on open ground or areas with sparse cover and a good view of the surroundings, dens are often enlarged woodchuck or badger dens. The main entrance measures about 8" – 9" in diameter and is usually marked with a fan of excavated earth. Tracks, hair and a distinctive red fox odor are usually evident near the main entrance.
Odor: Red fox urine has a distinctive, pungent odor similar to a skunk.
Caches: Red foxes store excess food in holes covered by dirt or leaves, which are usually well disguised and difficult to find.
Activity
Active year-round. Predominantly nocturnal, sometimes crepuscular. Occasionally active during the daytime, especially in winter.
Similar Species
No other track shows the distinctive “heel bar” and no other canid track in our region is so heavily furred. Swift fox tracks (pg. 217) are smaller. Gray fox tracks (pg. 221) are usually smaller and often don’t show claws. Coyote tracks (pg. 229) are larger and usually longer and narrower. Coyotes also leave wider trails and don’t typically direct register. Domestic dog tracks are usually wider with toes splayed more and blunter claws pointing outward. Bobcat tracks (pg. 243) are rounder, show two lobes on the leading edge of the palm pad and rarely show claws.
Notes
Well adapted to human habitation, red foxes are the most common wild canid in most of our region. They are abundant in farmland and suburbs and can even be seen in our largest cities. Like all foxes, they are quite agile. While they do not climb, they commonly walk along fallen logs or up angled tree trunks.
Red foxes are omnivorous, eating rabbits, small mammals, birds, berries, fruits, insects and crayfish. They may also feed on carrion and raid garbage cans. Red foxes stalk prey more often than other canids. Their hearing is uniquely sensitive to low frequencies, enabling them to hear small animals digging beneath grass, snow or leaves. Once they locate their prey, they pounce.
Red foxes form long-term pair bonds and frequently mate for life. They hunt and forage individually, but both parents care for young. Litters of 4–10 pups are born March, April or May in an underground den and stay with their parents until fall. Males disperse widely, traveling up to 150 miles from home. Females usually stay closer, sometimes returning to their maternal den to help their parents raise the next year’s litter. Dens are abandoned in the fall and the foxes spend the winter in solitude.
While they have few natural enemies, red foxes generally do not compete well with coyotes. Common causes of mortality are cars and disease. Red foxes are one of the most common vectors for rabies, and populations frequently suffer from distemper and mange.
