DESCRIPTION

Brown-red back, white belly, bushy tail with white tip. Legs, lower legs and behind black ears. (Height at the withers: 35-40 cm).

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HABITAT

The fox is an opportunist and colonizing animal that can cope with the most varied living environments. Its vital area is the forest, the woods, the open spaces, the steppes, the mountain to the top of the limit of the forest.

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WAY OF LIFE

Its main house is in a burrow dug on the edge of a wood. It is laid out in a dry ground and very loose. It can sink several meters deep, but most frequently, it is relatively shallow and ends with a room where the animal stands. Several exits are arranged allowing a discreet escape in case of danger. Generally, the burrow is not dug by the fox itself, it is only housed from rabbit or badger burrows. In good weather, the fox can lie outside in a tuft of grass, ferns or heather. Depending on the capacity of the environment, the fox is solitary or social, and its status evolves during its existence. In food-poor environments, it is usually solitary, with the exception of the rut period. In more favorable environments, it lives in couples all year long. Finally, when food resources are abundant, it adopts a community way of life and can be part of a hierarchical social group, consisting of a male, a dominant breeding female and several individuals of subordinate rank. These dominated foxes are most often non-breeding females, which participate in the supply and rearing of the foxes. In general, the fox, alone or in groups, occupies a vital area (territory) that he marks and defends. Its extent depends directly on the amount of food available: the more favorable the conditions, the smaller the area. It's as smart as the rumor says ! In winter, if you see a fox that is cold, steep and snow-covered, do not be fooled ! It could make the dead to attract crows ... and resurrect to seize them with a single stroke of teeth !

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FOOD

The fox's food varies according to where it lives. It feeds on rodents (mice), young animals of larger size, insects, dead animals, exceptionally roe deer. He also loves berries and fruits.

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BREEDING

When mating, red foxes occupy an area of 3 to 8 km2. They mate in the middle of winter. After a gestation period of 49 to 56 days, the female calves two to six pups in an underground den. The foxes are born with closed eyes and are cared for in the den by both parents for almost five weeks. In the fall, young people leave their native territory or they are expelled from it. It is thought that red foxes, with an average life span of twelve years, are paired only once in their life.

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THREAT

The fox is present everywhere, from beaches to mountains up to 2500 m. Two diseases, rabies and scabies, can reduce episodically the populations in a considerable way: vulpine rabies, arrived in France in 1968, has now almost disappeared thanks to an oral vaccination program of foxes while scabies is prevalent mainly in the south -is. The fox is hunted but is not in danger of extinction.

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