ABOUT THE GREY FOX
Common Name: Gray Fox
Secondary Name(s): Grey Fox, Tree
Fox
Mutational Names: N/A
Scientific Name: Urocyon cinereargenteus
Status: Endangered in southern Canada
and northern North America
Lifespan: Up to 14 years
Mating: Breeding season is January
through March.
Gestation Period: 63 Days
Number of kits per litter: 2-7
Litters per year: 1
Size: 50-75cm + 30-40cm tail
Weight: about 3-6 kg
Food: Insects, birds, small animals,
and fruit
Notes: The Grey Fox is also called
the Tree Fox because unlike all the other breeds of foxes this breed has specially designed claws that allow it to do so. Climbing trees usually aids in escaping from predators but often they do it for fun or to take birds from their nests. The grey fox is more retiring and less crafty than the red fox as well.
Sometimes called the treefox, the shortlegged grey fox is noted for its ability to climb trees much more than other foxes. Up to 27 in. head and body length and 15 lb weight, the greyfox has a bushy tail up to 17 in. long. The general color of its fur is
grey with under-parts white but there is a rusty tinge along the sides of the neck, lower flanks and underside of the tail. There is a black line along the middle of the back, continuing along the tail, and black lines on the face. There is a noticeable ridge of stiff hairs along the top of the tail. Its size and color vary from one region to another. In the northeast of its range its coat is a dark grey; in the southwest it is paler and slightly redder.
They range from southern Canada through the United
States to Mexico, Central America and northern South America. A smaller
animal with shorter ears living on certain islands Off southern California
is regarded as a second species. It scavenges the beaches and makes its
den among the cacti.
Climbing fox
Grey foxes live in forests, especially of southern
pines, or brush country in the dry areas of the southwestern United States
and Mexico. It is difficult to assess numbers because the animal
is not only about, mainly at night, but is also adept at keeping out of sight
at all times. It is therefore comparatively seldom seen and even
its yapping bark often passes unrecognized, even if heard, partly because
it is somewhat like the call of the coyote. During the day it rests
in thick vegetation or among rocks, or in a tree hollow. Much of
its food is caught on the ground but the fox will not only go up into trees
when pursued but will also do so of its own will, especially to find fruits
in season. It will run up a leaning trunk or climb a straight trunk
gripping it with its forelimbs and pushing upwards with the hindfeet, the
long claws on the toes of the hindfeet acting as climbing irons.
Once in the tree it may leap from one branch to another. In descending
the fox backs down the tree. it is not a fast runner, nor can it run long
distances. The difference between the crude climbing of the red fox
and the skill of the grey fox can best be illustrated by an accident.
A grey fox was found dead in a tree -- its tail caught by the tip in a forked
twig and further held by having passed through a second fork. From
the scarring on the bark of the nearby twigs the fox had made desperate
efforts to free itself. The important point is that all the twigs
around the fox were no more than 3/4 inches thick and most were nearer 2/5
inches.
Fox and grapes
Its diet is wide and takes in mice, squirrels, small
birds and eggs, as well as insects. It also includes more plant food
than is usual in the dog family. Grain and fruits, especially wild grapes
and wild cherries, form the bulk of the food at certain seasons and in
particular areas. With such a wide diet the grey fox readily takes
to farmland and can be a nuisance, especially where there is poultry.
It is also established in some built-up areas, for instance, the outskirts
of New York City. The actual requirements of grey foxes were worked
out by Richard F. Dyson, Curator of Large Mammals at the Arizona-Sonora
Desert Museum at Tucson. Because some of the mammals were overweight
and had shaggy coats he tested grey foxes for 6 months and found they kept
in excellent health on 3-8% of their own body weight of food (flesh and
fruit) per day. Later it was shown that this held good for other carnivores.
United families
The cubs are born in spring after a gestation period
of about 2 months, the litter averaging 3 or 4, but it may be from 2 to
7. At birth the cubs are black, blind and helpless, about 31 oz weight.
They are weaned at 6 weeks. The male helps in bringing up the family,
the cubs finally leaving the parents at the age of 5 months. Grey
foxes have lived up to 12 years in captivity.
The grey fox may be killed by wolf, coyote, bobcat
and lynx, but today its main enemy is man. Because of its habit of
going quickly to ground or up into trees it is not hunted but trapped.
In this the trapper takes advantage of the regularity with which a grey
fox uses a run through the vegetation and sets his traps accordingly.
The pelts make only second-rate furs.
Dogs do climb
But for its habit of tree-climbing the grey fox would
hardly be noticed by zoologists. Yet tree-climbing foxes are no novelty,
even among those whose coats are red. Many a fox has outwitted the
hunt by running up the trunk of a leaning tree and hiding among the foliage.
Others have ascended by using low branches but at least one red fox in
England denned up in the crotch of a large tree and had her cubs there.
The crotch was 15 ft from the ground and the vixen reached it, judging
by the scratch marks on the bark, by jumping up from buttress root and
scrabbling the last few feet. This is highly unusual, but ordinary tree-climbing
by red foxes seems to be more common than we suppose. One thing they never
do is cling by the forelegs, as the grey fox does. That is a cat-like
action, but probably it is also a result of the grey fox's short legs.
Domestic dogs will sometimes climb trees. Those that do this most
successfully are the small breeds with short legs.
| Class |
Mammalia |
| Order |
Carnivora |
| Family |
Canidae |
| Genus & Species |
Urocyon cinereoargenteus grey fox
U. littoralis beach fox |
Origin of data from
Wildlife Encyclopedia
Volume 7
© 1980 Purnell Reference Books
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