Although I have been living in Colorado for almost two years now, I still have yet to see a fox! I know they are out there however, as there are four species of fox in Colorado. The Swift fox, the Kit fox, the Red fox and the Gray fox.
KIT FOX
Vulpes macrotis
Found in Western Colorado, the kit fox is the smallest of
North American foxes and is commonly known as the desert fox. It has large ears
that help it dissipate heat, a great adaptation for its life in the desert!
It has dense fur on its paws that help protect it from the
hot sand, and will also help give the fox traction. The coat of the kit fox
varies from season to season, with a rusty-tan in the summer and a gray color
in the winter. This helps the fox blend in while it hunts.
Kit foxes are monogamous and often mate for life. Kit foxes
will begin denning in October if they already have a mate. Mating occurs from December
to January, with litter sizes varying from one pup up to seven. They are
usually born mid-February to mid-March with a gestation period of 49-55 days. It takes about four weeks for the pups to
start emerging from the dens, and they are independent in five to six months
from birth.
Their food of choice consists of rodents, rabbits, invertebrates,
birds, lizards, snakes, carrion and a small amount of fruit.
Living in the desert, kit foxes have adapted not to need to
drink water, but they will drink it whenever it is possible. They get most of
their hydration from their prey.
Coyotes are the top threat for kit fox and coyote predation accounts for 75% of kit fox
mortality. Red fox, bobcat and large raptors often compete with kit fox for
food or predate on the kit fox.
Humans are a large problem for kit foxes, as most of their
habitat is being taken for agricultural land.
Federally, kit foxes are listed as species of least concern,
even though populations are continually declining due to habitat loss. The kit
foxes status could change if the habitat loss trends continue at the rate they
are now. In Colorado, kit foxes are classified as Endangered.
A paper written by Carron A. Meaney, Melissa Reed-Eckert,
and Gary P. Beauvais entitled Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis) A Technical
Conservation Assessment is a great read on the relatively current status of the
kit fox. It was written in 2006 , and the link is below.
http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/kitfox.pdf
SWIFT FOX
Vulpes velox
It was only until recently that the swift fox and kit fox
were recognized as separate species, though both foxes are “swift” and can run
in short bursts up to 25 miles per hour.
Swift fox looks very similar to the kit fox but it has ears
that are set slightly further apart on its head.
Swift fox live in shortgrass and mixed-grass prairies, and
are found in Eastern Colorado. Like most foxes they tend to be nocturnal and
occasionally crepuscular, which means they are active during dawn and dusk.
Prairie dog towns are a preferred habitat for the swift fox
(and the kit fox too! Lots of animals depend on prairie dog colonies, which is
one more reason why protecting prairie dogs are so important!).
Swift foxes breeding starts when they are 1 to 2 years old,
in February and March. They have a gestation period of 52-53 days with an average
litter size of 4 to 5 pups. The young won’t emerge from their dens until they
are 3 to 4 weeks old, and the pups are independent when they are 4 or 5 months
old.
They can live up to ten years in the wild, and use their
dens year round for cover and protection. These dens may be made by other
animals, like badgers or prairie dogs, or the fox may make its own burrow.
The swift fox and the kit fox eat the same things, mostly
rodents, rabbits, birds, invertebrates, lizards, and sometimes even prairie
dogs.
The swift fox faces the same predators as the kit fox, these
being coyote, red fox, bobcat, and large birds of prey. As with the kit fox,
the coyote is the main predator of the swift fox, and both foxes have suffered
from the extirpation of the prairie wolf, which controlled coyote populations
in the past.
Swift fox abundance has been reduced roughly 40 percent from
its original habitat, and has been extirpated (extinct or removed from an area
it used to live in, but is not extinct as a species) from Canada. It has been
recently been reintroduced into some parts of Canada.
The swift fox is listed as a species of least concern. They
were historically abundant in prairies, but numbers decreased in the late
1880’s to early 1900’s. They last Canadian swift fox was collected in 1928 with
a single sighting in 1938.
RED FOX
Vulpes vulpes
The red fox is the largest of the true foxes, and had the
widest distribution of any carnivore. Easily recognized by their gorgeous red
coat and white tipped tail, the red fox can also have many different colored
coats from the well-known red to a black or gray.
 |
| A silver furred red fox |
Red fox eat whatever they can find, from small mammals and
reptiles to birds, fruits, insects and will even rummage though human trash for
food.
The red fox is able to live anywhere from Arctic to desert
habitats, but prefer forests and grasslands.
The breeding season is typically in late December to March,
and they have a gestation period of 51-53 days. The average litter size is 5,
and the pups remain in the den for the first month of their life. It is unknown
if the red fox is monogamous or polygamous.
The young will begin to leave their dens to find their own
territory by mid-September to early October. Sometimes the female pups will
stay another year to help raise the next litter with their parents.
Red foxes tend to live up to 3 or 4 years in the wild. Predators
of the red fox may include gray wolves, bobcat, lynx, mountain lions and
coyotes. Humans are also a predator of fox, either for fur, sport, or as pest
removal.
Red foxes are the most common carrier or rabies, and rabies
can cause a 60 to 80 percent mortality within a population.
A successful predator
that is adaptable and cunning, the fox is listed as a species of Least Concern.
They are still hunted by hounds for sport in England, and their population has
exploded in Australia after they were introduced in 1850.
Their range in North America has expanded since colonial
times as their main competitor the wolf, was extirpated. The only fox on this list to have benefited from the removal of wolves in North America.
GRAY FOX
Urocyon cinereoargenteus
Not to be confused with a red fox with a silver coloring,
the gray fox is colored gray with a reddish-brown coloring on its sides, chest,
legs, and back of head. It’s busy tail has a stripe on top. Unlike red foxes,
they have oval shaped pupils, whereas a red fox has slip shaped pupils, like a
cat.
Some unique traits of the gray fox, like its retractable
claws and short legs, have lead some researchers to believe that the gray fox
is a more primitive carnivore.
The gray fox eats a wide variety of foods, from small
mammals, birds, insects, and fruit. Grasshoppers and crickets make up an
important part of its diet in summer and fall.
Gray foxes tend to live in deciduous or pine forests that
have some old fields within or nearby. They can also be found in agricultural
lands or riparian habitats.
The breeding season is from January to April (it can vary
depending on the region) with a gestation period of 50-53 days. They will have
1 to 7 pups, which at 4 months old will be able to hunt for themselves. The
same males and females tend to mate together each year. Both parents help feed
and take care of the offspring, while the father is usually the one to teach
the pups how to hunt and stalk.
Gray foxes tend to be solitary and only get together during
mating season, and gray foxes live from
6 to 8 years in the wild.
Unlike other foxes, gray foxes tend to only use dens when
mating and rearing young. They are also the only fox that can climb a tree.
Predators of the gray fox include bobcats, eagles, great
horned owls, and coyotes. They are sometimes killed by humans for their fur,
and in some places are sold illegally as pets. Coyote remain their top
predators however, and their population size depends greatly on coyote presence.
The gray fox is listed as a species of Least Concern, and
there currently is not enough information on whether their populations are
rising or declining.
SOURCES:
KIT FOX
ARKive
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Meaney, Carron A, Ph. D., Reed-Eckert, Melissa, and
Beauvais, Gary P. Ph.D.
A Technical Conservation Assessment
SWIFT FOX
ARKive
http://www.arkive.org/swift-fox/vulpes-velox/
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
USDA Forest Service
U.S. Fish and Wildlife
RED FOX
ARKive
National Geographic
Smithsonian North American Animals
USDA Forest Service
GRAY FOX
Animal Diversity Web
ARKive
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species
Nature Works
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