Foxy Facts
The red fox is a wild cousin of the domestic dog. He’s the most successful wild predator in the world, more widespread than any other carnivore. Foxes rule in Europe, North America, throughout Asia and even in Australia, where they only arrived about 150 years ago.
1. Foxes are fantastically STINKY - especially their poo, which can smell as bad as a skunk.
2. Foxes need a huge amount of SPACE to roam and hunt for food in order to stay healthy. A walk in the park wouldn’t be enough for a fox.
3. Foxes are fantastically NOISY -especially the females, who make a scratchy screaming noise that sounds really spooky and keeps you awake at night.
4. Foxes love DIGGING. If you left a fox alone in your house, it could dig right through your sofa, just for fun.
5. Foxes need FREEDOM. They are wild creatures, and can get very depressed when kept in captivity.
6. In the film, Farmers Boggis, Bunce and Bean hate Fantastic Mr Fox because he keeps stealing their chickens. In actual fact, it is true that only a few daring foxes commit most of the chicken “crimes” that make farmers angry - perhaps they’re more cunning than the other foxes, or perhaps they just get a taste for chicken.
7. In the UK, wild foxes live mainly on a diet of rabbits. And which animal causes the most damage for farmers? Yes, that’s right - rabbits. They cost farmers a whopping £100 million a year, just by eating their crops. So the fox could even be the farmer’s friend, saving him money by keeping the rabbit population down!
8. Foxes seem to be good at avoiding hard work - especially when there’s someone else to do it for them. Instead of bothering to dig their own den, they sometimes steal a badger’s burrow (called a sett) by scaring the owner away and making his house smell so bad he doesn’t want it back.
9. Foxes seem to be very playful. They can often be seen playing with a fallen apple as though it were a ball, or chasing their own tails. This fooling around sometimes serves a second purpose: if a curious rabbit comes closer to watch, it will find itself gobbled up by the hungry fox.
10. Foxes are incredibly adaptable. They make the best of whatever situation they find themselves in, whether it’s the countryside or the centre of a big city. They really are a pretty fantastic success as a species.
11. For every animal is a scientific name and classification. The scientific name of the red fox is Vulpes vulpes. Classification is based on kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species. Every category narrows down the type of living thing we are talking about.
12. The classification of the red fox is:
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum or Division: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Vulpes
Species: vulpes
The kingdom tells us that it is an animal, and then the phylum provides the information that it is a vertebrate or an animal with a back bone. The order states that it is a carnivore. Then we are told the family, genus, and species. Canidae is the family that includes the coyotes, dogs, foxes, jackals, and wolves. Vulpes is the genus of the foxes, and vulpes is the species, which tells you the exact type of animal. The red fox is mostly nocturnal, coming out only rarely during the day.
13. The red fox uses an uncommon skill to hunt its prey. Unlike other mammals, the red fox can hear low-frequency sounds. This is an advantage for the fox because it can hear small animals digging underground; it then knows where to dig in the dirt or snow to catch prey. Like cats, the fox stalks its victims. It quietly gets as near as it can to them, and then the fox pounces.
14. The red fox is an omnivore and it eats fruit, berries and grass. However, a major part of the red fox's diet consists of insects like crickets, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and beetles. The red fox hunts even after it is full. It then hides extra food it finds and saves it for later under leaves, snow or dirt.
15. The red fox also preys on birds and rodents such as squirrels, mice, and rabbits.
16. The mating season for the red fox mates is from January to the end of March.Right after mating, the female will make one main den and maybe a couple other dens. These extra dens are made for use in case the main den is disturbed. The fox dens may be as long as 50 feet.
17. About two months after the mating, the female becomes mother to a litter of between one and ten kits.
18. While the mother is taking care of the kits, the male red fox hunts for the food. The kits stay inside the den until they are one month old. Once the kits are old enough to play outside the den, they are old enough for semi solid food. At first, the mother feeds them regurgitated meals. Later, she brings home live food for dinner so that the kits can "play" with the prey; this experience gives the young foxes the skill they will need for hunting on their own. The kits are old enough to live on their own after seven months
18. The male cubs normally leave before the female cubs; however, not every cub chooses to leave their parents. Only the females are allowed to stay with the family, the males must strike out on their own and start a family.
19. The male cubs normally leave before the female cubs; however, not every cub chooses to leave their parents. Only the females are allowed to stay with the family, the males must strike out on their own and start a family.
20. Red foxes usually live less than five years; however, they have been known to live up to 12 years.
21. The red fox always builds its den in a place that is not too far from water such as a stream, marsh, lake, or pond.
22. Red foxes claim a territory of anywhere from 2 to 5 square miles. Personal space for both hunting and living is a very important to the fox.
23. This is because every family needs at least a few safe dens to raise their cubs in, along with safe resting and playing locations outside.
24. The red fox lives in most of the United States and Canada. It does not live in the far north of Canada and in large parts of the western U.S. or Hawaii.
25. The red fox can also be found in Europe and Asia and it has been introduced to Australia.
26. Fox hunting is a sport in which people track, chase, and sometimes kill a fox.
27. Traditionally they will hunt a red fox using trained foxhounds; someone trains and controls the hounds and others follow on foot or on horseback.
28. Fox hunting began in Great Britain in the 1500s, but today it is an activity pursued all over the world. Although it has been banned in England, there are fox hunts in Australia, Canada, France, India, Ireland, Italy, Russia, New Zealand, and the United States.
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