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Animals

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A-Z

Red Fox

Vulpes vulpes

Found throughout the world, the resourceful
red fox is known for its cleverness and adaptability.

Photograph by Joel
Sartore

Red Fox Profile

Red foxes live around the world in many diverse
habitats including forests, grasslands, mountains, and
deserts. They also adapt well to human environments such
as farms, suburban areas, and even large communities.
The red fox's resourcefulness has earned it a legendary
reputation for intelligence and cunning.

Red
foxes are solitary hunters who feed on rodents, rabbits,
birds, and other small game—but their diet can be as
flexible as their home habitat. Foxes will eat fruit and
vegetables, fish, frogs, and even worms. If living among
humans, foxes will opportunistically dine on garbage and
pet food.

Like a cat's, the fox's thick tail aids
its balance, but it has other uses as well. A fox uses
its tail (or "brush") as a warm cover in cold weather
and as a signal flag to communicate with other
foxes.

Foxes also signal each other by making
scent posts—urinating on trees or rocks to announce
their presence.

In winter, foxes meet to mate.
The vixen (female) typically gives birth to a litter of
2 to 12 pups. At birth, red foxes are actually brown or
gray. A new red coat usually grows in by the end of the
first month, but some red foxes are golden,
reddish-brown, silver, or even black. Both parents care
for their young through the summer before they are able
to strike out on their own in the fall.

Red foxes
are hunted for sport, though not extensively, and are
sometimes killed as destructive pests or frequent
carriers of rabies.

Fast Facts

Type: Mammal

Diet: Omnivore

Average lifespan in the wild: 2 to
4 years

Size: Head and body, 18 to 33.75 in
(46 to 86 cm); Tail, 12 to 21.75 in (30.5 to 55.5
cm)

Weight: 6.5 to 24 lbs (3 to 11
kg)

Size relative to a 6-ft (2-m)
man:

Multimedia

Red Fox Printable Factsheet

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