Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)

County List:

Rule:

Mixed Forested/Nonforested or Nonforested Landscapes

Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

      (Any Forested Upland (Regen))
      or (Any Forested Lowland (Regen))
      or Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Any Cropland
   containing:
      Mast
   neighboring:
      (Any Forested Upland (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))
      or (Any Forested Lowland (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))

Habitat List:

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Literature:

It prefers open country with reliable cover nearby and frequents forest-field edges, brushy fencelines, and the wooded borders of steams or lakes. Although this canid generally avoids dense unbroken forests, it often becomes common after loggers open the canopy. A red fox occasionally lives on the suburban fringe and sometimes occupies large parks, cemeteries, or golf courses.

The den is often a modified woodchuck burrow located in an open hillside or streambank.

Prey includes rabbits, squirrels, mice, voles, ground-nesting birds. A red fox is somewhat opportunistic, often feeds on carrion, and occasionally takes a snake, crayfish, salamander, and even a cricket or beetle. During late summer and autumn, this carnivore also consumes small amounts of nuts and fruits.

Habitat: Found in a variety of habitats. A mixture of forest and open areas is preferred. Unbroken fields and dense forest avoided. Edges used heavily.

Special Habitat Requirements: Suitable den sites.

Habitat Preferences: Fallow and cultivated fields, meadows, bushy fence lines, woody stream borders, and low shrub cover along the fringes of woods and along beaches bordering larger lakes provide denning and hunting areas for the red fox. Although there is evidence in both the postglacial fossil and the archaeological records that the red fox has been a longtime Michigan resident, the species has probably flourished since presettlement days as a result of the pioneers opening woodlands which blanketed much of the state prior to 1800. Lumbering and cultivation provided a major habitat change conducive to an abundant supply of small rodents, insects, fruit-bearing shrubs and a mixed second-growth environment - all to the red foxes' liking.

Density and Movement: In typical Midwestern environment, including a mixture of cultivated fields, fallow and pasture land, scattered woodlots, bushy fencerows, creek banks, and hillsides, it is estimated that there is about one fox family (averaging about 7.4 individuals) per 2,471 acres.

Behavior: Red foxes generally use ground burrows for dens which serve as both refuges and for rearing the young. Most dens are located in the well-drained places. They can be found in fencerows, in the middle of fields, at woodland edges, on ridges, in stone fences, and even in old clogged drain tile or on an island in a river.

Associates: The red fox uses uplands with open pasture and woodland edges, while the gray fox remains mostly in lowland woods and woodland edges.

Food Habits: The red fox has a varied appetite for both animal and plant foods. The list of red fox prey encompasses virtually all Michigan small mammals, porcupine, and even beaver. The red fox also eats carrion from larger mammals - white-tailed deer, wapiti, moose, and domestic animals. The variety of other foods eaten by the red fox is impressive the list includes birds, cold-blooded vertebrates, invertebrates, and numerous fruits, seeds, and other plant parts.

Key Components of Habitat: High degree of habitat or cover type edge as a result of interspersion or mosaic of woodland, shrubland, cropland, and grassland habitat.

Management Actions to Enhance or Maintain Habitat Quality: Maintain woodlots in agricultural areas with minimal grazing or disturbance to ensure diversity of understory vegetation and foods; maintain shelterbelts and fencerows for cover and travel corridors; encourage establishment of fruit-producing shrubs and trees.

Habitat: The world-wide distribution of red foxes clearly indicates that the species can survive in a variety of habitats ranging from arctic barren areas to temperate deserts. In developed regions, red foxes are generally associated with agricultural areas where woodlots are interspersed with cropland and grass pastureland. Such areas provide foxes with a variety and abundance of food and prey as well as with denning areas. Most of the foxes in the eastern North America and nearly all in Europe use this habitat type. However, foxes thrive in large numbers in intensive agricultural areas such as North Dakota, urban areas in Great Britain, mountainous regions of Alaska and the Yukon Territory, and boreal forests. In many areas, competition with other canids and the availability of suitable year-round food resources limit fox survival. Habitat determines the availability of suitable year-round food resources and the presences or absence of other canids. Because these two factors strongly influence red fox survival, habitat limits fox numbers but seldom limits distribution.