Red Fox?

R

roy reali

New member
Yesterday I was exploring some scrub area with my dogs. A canine-type creature crossed my path no more then forty feet away. At first I thought it was my younger dog because of the size, but then I saw the face wasn't right. Then I thought it might be a young coyote, but the coat was reddish. So this morning I did some net research.

The animal I saw yesrerday looks like it could have been a Red Fox.

Any Fox hunters here?

Does anyone know if this species of Fox is found in Northern Nevada?
 
Quite common in the midwest.....this one sits in the living room.

Fox1.jpg
 
Hi roy-
In northern NV, it could have been a kit fox (small, about 6-10 lbs). They are smaller (about 1/2 size) than a red fox. Kit foxes can be quite reddish, but generally do not have the white tip on their tail that red foxes have.

If it was in an agricultural area or in a riparian area, it could have been a gray or a red fox, they need more water than kit foxes. Red foxes are widespread across the world. Some authorities think red foxes were introduced in North America, and spread quickly, interbreeding with the native gray fox.

FWIW, I lived and hunted in northern NV for almost a decade, and in all that time I cannot recall ever seeing a red fox in NV. Kit foxes, gray foxes, but I never saw a red fox there that I can recall.
 
Nothing to do with your sighting, but did you know that red foxes aren't always red?

I took these pix here in Alaska. They're both "red" foxes.

The first is a color variant known as a silver fox. The second is known as a cross fox.

BlackFox.jpg


Cross.jpg
 
In Iceland the artic fox can be in winter, white, grey or brown !
Here in NY we have both red and grey fox.
What other species of fox are there in the uSA ?
 
There are just the three - red, gray and arctic. Reds come in a variety of colors, and arctics come in at least three. In the Aleutians, many arctic foxes don't turn white in the winter, they just stay a sort of rusty red/brown all year round.
 
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ive trapped red fox with black tipped tails. got an extra $10 per hide for them.

grey, red, arctic, kit, black(silver), cross, are some of the fox species in north american continent.

also greys and reds will occasionally interbreed.
 
grey, red, arctic, kit, black(silver), cross, are some of the fox species in north american continent.
Click to expand...

Black, silver and cross are all red foxes. A red fox (especially around here) might have a black, a cross, a red and a silver in the same litter.
 
Greys and Reds can not interbreed. The greys are kind of multi-colored, a lot of orangeish brown in them, and they appear interbred. Off the subject, but I am thinking of the "ground hogs climb trees" thread and greys climb trees. Never saw a red do that.
 
Not Kit

I Googled Kit Fox. The animal I saw looked more like a Red Fox. Granted, it was a quick glance I got, but if I had to wager, my money would be on Red Fox.

I happened to have my 20 gauge with me. When I first caught sight of the animal I was getting ready to shoot as soon as I realized it wasn't one of my dogs. I thought it was a young coyote for a second. But I paused as soon as I realized that it wasn't one, that it mght be a fox.
 
Keep in mind Roy that the wild canines are in between their winter and summer coats right now. They can just plain look like crap and like they were riden hard and put away wet. There is also a chance that whatever you saw had a touch of mange which can alter the appearance. Red Fox in general look substantially larger than their body weight. They have lots of fur, almost zero fat and long legs. I reality they don't weight much more than a large house cat. I have a Jagdterrier that weighs in at around 22 lbs but she looks like she about the same size as a fox that weighs 2/3rds her weight. Coyote also look bigger than their weight. A 30 lbs coyote will look to be about the same size as a 40-50lbs dog. Coyote can also have a substantial amount of red in their fur.

If what you saw looks like a very very furry terrier in size it more than likely was a fox. Red or Grey I can't say sitting here.

LK
 
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