Common Name: Red fox / Gray fox
Scientific Name: Vulpes vulpes / Urocyon cinereoargenteus
- Adult body length (without tail): 16 to 29 inches
- Adult body weight: 7 to 15 pounds
- Gestation period: 51 to 63 days
- Litters per year: 1
- Litter size: 3 to 9 young (usually 3 to 7)
- Breeding season: January through February
- Birthing season: March through April
- Age at which young are weaned: 6 to 7 weeks
- Activity period: Night (pre-sunset to post-dawn)
- Range: 3 to 25 square miles
- Primary foods: Rabbits, rodents, birds, eggs, small livestock, insects, fruits
Fox Pest Status
Foxes prey on turkeys, chickens, ducks, geese, pheasants and the eggs of these birds. They also prey on young pigs, lambs and small dogs and cats. Foxes also carry rabies. Like coyotes, foxes often move from outlying rural areas into more urbanized settings in search of suitable harborage and prey
Residents of housing developments visited by foxes should keep their dogs and cats indoors at night or contained in securely-fenced yards, protected from roaming foxes. Fox barrier fences should be at least 5 1/2 feet high, constructed of no larger than 4 x 4 inch mesh heavygauge wire, have outward-angled wire overhangs and buried wire aprons. The installation of bright security lights over fowl coops, animal pens and back yards dramatically reduces the frequency of nighttime predation by foxes to small livestock and smaller pets kept in those areas. Also, having two or more trained (large breed) guard dogs on the property is an effective way to keep foxes away from small/young livestock.
Although not a method practiced by Varment Guard, where legal and safe, shooting foxes is an effective way to reduce local coyote populations, if the rural property owner is so inclined.
One method employed by Varment Guard technicians to capture foxes is the placement of dirt sets using staked leg-hold traps on fox trails and near den entrances (secured from humans and non-target animals). This constitutes an effective measure for capturing coyotes in rural and new suburban developments. The strategic placement of snares concealed among tall vegetation and brush along trails is another proven method for taking foxes.