Sly fox (fox). Colors of foxes Where the common fox lives

From the Arctic zone to the northern Gulf Coast. The fox was acclimatized in Australia and spread throughout the continent, with the exception of some northern regions with a humid subequatorial climate.

Previously, it was believed that a separate species of fox lives in America, but in lately it is considered a subspecies of the red fox.

Appearance

Vulpes vulpes- Scull

The color and size of foxes vary in different areas; in total there are 40-50 subspecies, not taking into account smaller forms. In general, as you move north, foxes become larger and lighter in color, and as you move south, they become smaller and duller in color. IN northern regions and in the mountains black-brown and other melanistic forms of fox coloration are also more common. The most common color: bright red back, white belly, dark paws. Often foxes have brown stripes on the ridge and shoulder blade, similar to a cross. General distinctive features: dark ears and white tip of the tail. Externally, the fox is a medium-sized animal with a graceful body on low paws, an elongated muzzle, pointed ears and a long fluffy tail.

Molting begins in February-March and ends in mid-summer. Immediately after this, the fox begins to grow winter fur, in which it is completely dressed by the turn of November and December. Summer fur is much thinner and shorter, winter fur is thicker and more lush. Foxes are distinguished by large locator ears, with the help of which they pick up sound vibrations. Ears for foxes are the “catcher” of prey.

The vocalization of the red fox is the same howl as that of a wolf, only lower in tone.

Ecology

Red fox

The significant variety of color and size of the fox is associated with the breadth of its range and the great variety of living conditions in its individual parts. Suffice it to say that foxes inhabit, although with different densities, all landscape-geographical zones, from the tundra and subarctic forests to the steppe and deserts, including mountain ranges in all climatic zones. Moreover, the fox is found not only in the wild, but also in cultural landscapes, as well as on the outskirts of cities, including large ones (such as Kyiv and Warsaw; in London, foxes are quite common on the outskirts, and sometimes appear in the central part of the city) . Moreover, at times in urbanized areas the fox finds a particularly favorable environment for itself. They often inhabit city landfills, parks and basements of houses.

In all parts of its range, the fox prefers open areas, as well as areas where there are separate groves, copses, hills and ravines, especially if in winter the snow cover in them is not too deep and loose. Therefore, of all the climatic zones, most foxes live in the steppe and forest-steppe, and not in the forest.

The fox is a fairly sedentary animal. In most areas it is not characterized by regular migrations. Cases of such are observed only in the tundra, deserts and mountains. For example, one of the foxes tagged in the Malozemelskaya tundra (Arkhangelsk region, Russia) was later killed 600 kilometers to the southwest. Young animals that migrate from the parental den are usually located at a distance of 2-5 to 15-30 km from it.

The number of foxes fluctuates noticeably from year to year. Its condition is influenced by such factors as the number of rodents, meteorological conditions, the presence in the population infectious diseases. In hungry years, not only does the fertility of females decrease and fewer puppies survive, but conditions also arise that are favorable for the spread of epizootics, which sometimes cover large areas. Epizootics characteristic of foxes are rabies, predator plague, and scabies.

In the wild, foxes rarely live more than seven years, often life expectancy does not exceed three. In captivity, animals live up to 20-25 years.

Nutrition

Fox with prey

The fox, although it belongs to typical predators, feeds on a wide variety of foods. Among the food it eats, more than 400 species of animals alone have been identified, not counting several dozen species of plants. Everywhere, the basis of its diet consists of small rodents, mainly voles. One can even say that the state of the population of this predator largely depends on the sufficiency of their number and availability. This especially applies to winter period, when a fox lives primarily by hunting field mice: the animal, sensing a rodent under the snow cover, listens to its squeak, and then quickly dives into the snow with quick jumps, or scatters it with its paws, trying to catch its prey. This method of hunting is called mouseing.

Economic importance

The fox is of great economic importance as a valuable fur-bearing animal, as well as a regulator of the number of rodents and insects. At the same time, the damage that foxes cause to commercial game and poultry is much less than the benefit they bring by destroying rodents - grain consumers.

Foxes are bred in captivity specifically for their fur. IN late XIX centuries, a breed of silver-black (silver-brown) foxes was artificially bred. Then, thanks to selection, the quality of fur of this breed was significantly improved (compared to the wild type), and a number of other fur breeds were developed on its basis: platinum, Bakurian, Dakota and others.

In southern Europe, wild foxes are the largest carrier of the rabies virus, so they are vaccinated everywhere.

Domestication

Subspecies

The species is very rich in the variety of subspecies. There are more than 40 of them in total; in this diversity, the Red Fox species is second only to the wolf, the progenitor of the domestic dog, and shows an amazing adaptive ability to survive in the process of evolution and the life of this amazing omnivore:

Vulpes vulpes abietorum
Vulpes vulpes aeygptica
Vulpes vulpes alascensis
Vulpes vulpes alpherakyi
Vulpes vulpes alticola
Vulpes vulpes anatolica
Vulpes vulpes arabica
Vulpes vulpes atlantica
Vulpes vulpes barbaras
Vulpes vulpes beringiana
Vulpes vulpes cascadensis
Vulpes vulpes caucasica
Vulpes vulpes crucigera
Vulpes vulpes daurica
Vulpes vulpes diluta
Vulpes vulpes dolichocrania
Vulpes vulpes dorsalis
Vulpes vulpes flavescens
Vulpes vulpes fulva
Vulpes vulpes griffithi
Vulpes vulpes harrimani
Vulpes vulpes hoole
Vulpes vulpes ichnusae
Vulpes vulpes induta
Vulpes vulpes jakutensis
Vulpes vulpes japonica
Vulpes vulpes karagan
Vulpes vulpes kenaiensis
Vulpes vulpes krimeamontana
Vulpes vulpes kurdistanica
Vulpes vulpes macroura
Vulpes vulpes montana
Vulpes vulpes necator
Vulpes vulpes ochroxanta
Vulpes vulpes palaestina
Vulpes vulpes peculiosa
Vulpes vulpes pusilla
Vulpes vulpes regalis
Vulpes vulpes rubricosa
Vulpes vulpes schrencki
Vulpes vulpes silacea
Vulpes vulpessplendidissima
Vulpes vulpes stepensis
Vulpes vulpes tobolica
Vulpes vulpes tschiliensis

Reflection in art

The red fox is a very common character in folklore. different countries peace. In European countries, she, as a rule, embodies cunning and deceit, playing quite a variety of roles: from treacherous scoundrels (as in a number of Russian fairy tales) to smart advisers (As in the fairy tale of Boris Shergin, Poig and the Fox). One of the most famous fox characters is Renard the Fox, a character in the classic medieval poem Romance of the Fox.

In Mesopotamian mythology, the fox is a sacred animal. She serves the goddess Ki as a messenger. In Finland, the fox is a symbol of cunning, but not evil.

In Japanese mythology, there are kitsune werefoxes who can take on human form. They have enormous knowledge and master magic. Kitsune later became popular in literature, cinema and video games. Spirits similar to kitsune also appear in Chinese and Korean myths.

Literature

1100 - Medieval poem “The Romance of the Fox”
1793 - “Reinecke the Fox” by J. W. Goethe
1879 - “Brother Fox and Brother Rabbit. From the Tales of Uncle Remus" Joel Chandler Harris
1883 - “The Adventures of Pinocchio” by Carlo Collodi: Fox, one of the negative characters
1905 - “Red Fox” Charles Roberts: about the life of a fox from the deep forest regions of Eastern Canada
1909 - “Domino” by E. Seton-Thompson: about the adventures of a fox named Domino
1935 - “The Golden Key, or the Adventures of Pinocchio” by Alexei Tolstoy: fox Alice
1943 - “The Little Prince” A.-E. Exupery. The fox is the author of the classic speech about taming.
1965 - “Tutta Carlson is the first and only, Ludwig the Fourteenth and others” by Jan Ekholm: about the friendship of the fox Ludwig and the chicken Tutta Carlson
1965 - “Little Fox Vuk” by Istvan Fekete
1967 - The Fox and the Hound by Daniel Pratt Mannix
1970 - The Fantastic Mr. Fox by Roald Dahl: Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox and Their Children
1989 - “The Moon Beast” by Harry Kilworth: about the life of the fox O-ha
2001 - “The Case of the Werefoxes” by Holm van Zaitchik: alternative history with elements of mysticism
2004 - “The Sacred Book of the Werewolf” by V. Pelevin: about the were-fox A Khuli

Animation

1937 - “Reinecke the Fox” directed by Vladislav Starevich: based on the poem of the same name by J. V. Goethe
1973 - Disney's Robin Hood: Robin Hood and Maid Marian
1978 - “Poiga and the Fox”: based on the fairy tale by B. Shchergin
1980 - “How foxes and chickens became friends
1981 - “Vuk”: based on the fairy tale by I. Fekete about an orphaned fox
1981 - Disney's "The Fox and the Hound": Tod the fox and his friend Vixie. Based on the book of the same name by Daniel Pratt Mannix
1984 - “Pillow for the Sun”: Alice the fox and her grandmother
1986 - “A Winter Story”: a Welsh cartoon about the little fox Mick and his parents
1986 - “Wonderful Forest”: one of the cartoon characters is the fox Lily. Based on the book by Suncana Skrinjaric
1987 - “Abduction in Tyuturlistan”: the fox Khitrunya is one of the main characters
1989-1993 - “Little Fox”: a series of Soviet cartoons about a little fox and his friends
1992-1995 - “The Animals of Farthing Wood”: Fox and Vixen and their cubs
1999 - “Foxbusters”: a fox tribe led by King Voracious
1995 - “The Incredible Adventures of Dwarves”: the fox is a friend of the main character, the gnome David
2003 - “Cunning Little Vixen”: based on Leoš Janáček’s opera “Příhody lišky bystroušky” (The Adventures of a Trickster Fox)
2005 - “Renard the Fox” directed by Thierry Schiel: based on the medieval “Romance of the Fox”
2006 - “Night of the Autumn Full Moon”: based on Japanese fairy tales. The Story of the Fox and the Badger
2009 - “Fantastic Mr. Fox”: Mr. Fox, Mrs. Fox, their son, and nephew

Movie

1975 - “The Adventures of Pinocchio”: film adaptation of the fairy tale by Alexei Tolstoy
1984 - “Red-haired honest lover”: based on the fairy tale by Jan Ekholm
2005 - “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” - Mr. Fox
2006 - “Fox Helen”

Music

1923 - “The Adventures of the Trickster Fox” (Czech: Příhody lišky bystroušky): opera by Leoš Janáček about the life of the fox Ostroushka

The fox, thanks to its ability to adapt to the most different conditions, has mastered all climatic zones and all continents, except Antarctica.

Taxonomy

Russian name - common or red fox
English name- Red fox
Latin name - Vulpes vulpes
Order - carnivores (Carnivora)
Family - canids (Canidae)
Genus - foxes (Vulpes)

Conservation status of the species

The animal is common throughout its entire range.

Species and man

The red fox is very widespread, found in many countries, has a bright appearance and, of course, is not deprived of attention from humans. The fox is a constant character in fairy tales, legends, and myths. She embodies cunning and deceit, playing quite a variety of roles: from treacherous scoundrels (in most Russian fairy tales) to smart advisers (as in Boris Shergin’s fairy tale “Poiga and the Fox”). Both in the east and in the west, legends about werewolf foxes are widespread, capable of turning into seductive women, giving magical gifts, and often destroying people who trust them. IN Japanese mythology Were-foxes (kitsune) have enormous knowledge and master magic. Kitsune later became popular in literature, cinema and video games. Similar spirits also appear in Chinese and Korean myths. In Mesopotamian mythology, the fox is a sacred animal; it serves the goddess Ki as a messenger. In Finland, the fox is a symbol of cunning, but not evil.

This beauty has taken its place in heraldry; it is a symbol of insight, cunning, and perspicacity.

The fox is of great economic importance as a valuable fur-bearing animal, while it destroys many rodents and insects - grain consumers, is an object of sport hunting and serves as a wonderful decoration of nature. Of course, the fox is a predator and destroys a certain amount of game, but the damage that foxes cause to commercial game and poultry is much less than the benefit they bring by protecting our fields from rodents. However, in countries Western Europe The fox is considered a harmful predator subject to year-round extermination. And this is quite justified, since the animals there have fur of little value, and sporting farms breed a lot of game birds that suffer from foxes.

Foxes living near hiking trails, boarding houses, and in places where hunting is prohibited quickly get used to the presence of humans and even begin begging. However, wild foxes are one of the carriers of the rabies virus, so some caution must be observed.

Foxes are bred in captivity for their fur. At the end of the 19th century, a breed of silver-black (silver-brown) foxes was artificially bred. Then, thanks to selection, the quality of fur of this breed was significantly improved (compared to the wild type), and a number of other color variations were developed based on it: platinum, Bakurian, Dakota and others.

Distribution and habitats

Area common fox- one of the largest among all mammals. It covers almost the entire non-tropical part of the northern hemisphere - Eurasia (except for the extreme southeast), North America (except for the Mexican Highlands), and the extreme north of Africa.

In this vast territory, the animal inhabits almost all natural zones - forests of various types, tundra, steppe, arid regions, and highlands. She lives both at the “Pole of Cold” in Yakutia and in the hot Arabian deserts. There is no fox only in arctic deserts Far North, where its niche is occupied by the arctic fox.

This “ubiquitous” animal prefers open and lightly overgrown areas with copses, ravines and ravines. The living conditions for it are optimal in the forest-steppe and steppe - here the fox is found everywhere. In vast forest areas, especially where the winter is long and snowy, it is less common. In areas with a dry climate, the fox can often be found along dry ancient river beds covered with tugai thickets. In many places she prefers to settle next to a person. In the vicinity of large cities, it constantly stays close to landfills, which serve as sources of food.

Appearance and morphology

The fox is a very beautiful, slender animal with a characteristic long, pointed muzzle. The coloring and size of these animals are characterized by great geographical variability - more than 25 subspecies are known. In general, to the north of the range, foxes become larger and brighter, to the south - smaller and duller in color. Males have a body length of 50–90 cm, shoulder height of 35–50 cm, weight from 2.5 to 10 kg, females are slightly smaller. In winter, because of the lush fur, the fox looks squat, with a massive body, in summer - lean, tall-legged. The fur is thick, quite short and coarse in summer, lush and soft in winter.

The forest fox is called “firefox” for its bright coloring: it is reddish-red on top, the throat and chest are white, the back of the ears and the front of the legs are black, the tail is red with a white tip. In northern regions with harsh climatic conditions Often there are foxes with a predominance of black pigment - melanin - in their fur. “Sivodushki” are foxes with a gray-brown back, red-yellow sides and a dark brown belly; “crossed” - even darker animals in which the dark color of the paws is fused with a wide “belt” on the back; “Silver foxes” - animals with black-brown or black skin.

The sense organs of a fox are similar to other canids. She has excellent hearing - she can hear the squeak of a mouse a hundred meters away. Vision is much weaker, the fox mainly reacts to moving objects, but calmly standing man does not distinguish, sometimes, even in 10 steps. At the same time, this predator has an excellent visual memory, noticing the slightest changes in the situation near the hole. A fox's sense of smell is somewhat worse than that of a dog.

Nutrition and feeding behavior

The fox, although it belongs to typical predators, feeds on a wide variety of foods. Among the food it eats there are more than 300 species of animals and several dozen species of plants. Everywhere, the basis of its diet consists of rodents, primarily voles. The fox eats hares and birds, mainly small passerines, chickens, and waterfowl. On Far East Foxes living on the islands, like arctic foxes, subsist mainly on sea emissions, and during the spawning run of red fish they eat them too. In the southern arid regions, a significant proportion of the diet consists of reptiles - lizards and non-venomous snakes. During the mass flight of locusts, the predator becomes insectivorous. With a lack of natural animal food, the fox systematically attacks poultry. At the end of summer - autumn, she often visits melon fields and vineyards, picking up fallen apples, pears, cherry plums, and cherries.

While hunting for small rodents - "mousing" - the fox looks very funny. You can see her doing this activity most often in winter, on a snow-covered field. Getting excited, she seems to be dancing in one place, bouncing on her hind legs and hitting the ground with force with her front legs. In this way, the predator drives frightened rodents out of their holes to the surface, where it catches them. At the same time, she sometimes gets so carried away that she lets you get very close to her. The fox eats the caught small thing entirely, without stopping. It drags larger prey aside, partially eats it, and buries the remains in the ground. If you're lucky, several foxes will gather around the carrion or carcass of a large ungulate killed by wolves. Here they live for several days. The fox, unlike the wolf, never eats to capacity; usually 300–350 grams of meat per day is enough for her. However, with an abundance of mouse-like rodents, the predator does not stop hunting for them even after satiation: it does not eat them after catching them, but having caught them, it plays like a cat.

Vocalization

Lifestyle and behavior

The fox is a fairly sedentary animal, however, protecting the territory is apparently not typical for it, and the hunting areas of different animals overlap. In its area, the fox actively uses scent marks, leaving secretions from the peri-tail glands on the branches and trunks of young trees. The animal places such marks in many places in its hunting area, which is up to 10–15 km in diameter. The fox knows its area very well and systematically examines it. In winter, its daily movement averages 8–12 km. This distance includes up to 4 temporary beds where she rests, and about 50 places where she stops and sits down.

The fox deftly climbs steep slopes and swims well. Can climb trees if they are inclined or branch low above the ground. There is a known case when a fox hid from dogs in a bird’s nest located 10 meters above the ground.

Regular migrations are also unusual for the fox, unlike the arctic fox. They are observed only in the tundra, desert and mountains. For example, one of the foxes tagged in the Malozemelskaya tundra was caught 600 km to the southwest. Young dispersing females, leaving the parental burrow, go to a distance of up to 10–15 km. Male fox cubs are prone to longer journeys, moving 30–40 km or more from the parental burrow.
Foxes often move at a small trot, with their hind paws exactly matching the tracks of their front paws and creating a covered trail - the animal seems to be following a thread. The prints stretch in an even chain, only slightly shifting the centers of the right prints to the right of the center line, and the centers of the left ones to the left. The length of steps is 20–40 cm, most often about 30 cm. With this gait, the tracks of foxes are unmistakably different from the tracks of dogs, which never move so smoothly.

Foxes are active mainly at dawn and dusk, but in those places where they are not pursued, they hunt at different times days, and do not show any anxiety at the sight of people. In other cases, the fox is distinguished by extreme caution and an amazing ability, when escaping from pursuit, to confuse its tracks and resort to all sorts of tricks to deceive the dogs.

Reproduction and raising offspring

The fox begins breeding in the middle - end of winter: in the south it is December, in the north it is February. At this time, the animals are very excited and hardly rest; their “weddings” can be seen in broad daylight. It happens that one female is pursued by 5-6 males, who yelp and fight among themselves.

After the end of the mating season, the animals disperse and begin to live independently. However, shortly before the birth of the babies, the males again begin to enthusiastically pursue the females and again fight among themselves. It has been noted that fox cubs are not always trained by their real father. Professor P. A. Manteuffel, who observed a lot of foxes in nature, in the zoo and on fur farms, believed that a substance appears in the urine of pregnant foxes, which serves as a causative agent of the paternal instinct in males. This property is very useful for the survival of the species, as it provides fox cubs with the attention and care of both parents.
Before birth expectant mother cleans the hole and spends most of the time in it. When the fox cubs are born, she practically stops leaving the hole, and the fox has to hunt a lot to feed both herself and her. The male leaves the prey at the entrance to the hole, and he is not allowed near the cubs.

From 2 to 12 babies (4–6 on average) are born in the spring blind, with closed ears. The body is covered with a short baby fluff of a dark brown color, but the tip of the tail is already white. They grow and develop quickly: at two to three weeks of age, their eyes and ears open, and teeth begin to erupt. The cubs begin to crawl out of the hole, try the “adult” food, and the mother also has to hunt to feed the offspring.

Like wolves, foxes that have small cubs do not hunt near the burrow. There are cases when huntsmen systematically observed a brood of grouse not far from a fox hole, and the birds grew up safely and took wing. Shelduck ducks living in the steppe zone sometimes successfully hatch their chicks not just nearby, but in the branches of residential fox burrows.

The fox cubs grow, and at the age of one month they already meet their parents at the entrance to the hole, returning from hunting, and play for a long time. Milk feeding lasts 6–7 weeks, at which time the babies begin to try to hunt on their own. From the age of two months, puppies are already weaned from the “home”, moving further and further, showing more and more independence. However, their parents continue to feed them until the end of summer, and the family sticks to their native hole. In the fall, young animals often begin to live independently, but it happens that the entire family remains in the brood hole for the winter.

Some young females begin to reproduce as early as the next year and, in any case, reach sexual maturity by the age of two; males have offspring 1–2 years later.

Lifespan

In captivity, life expectancy is up to 25 years; in the wild, only a few animals live to be 8–10 years old.

Keeping animals at the Moscow Zoo

The foxes live on the Old Zoo grounds in a large enclosure next to the Cat Row, opposite the red wolves. As in nature, animals are more often active in the morning and evening hours, and during the day they sleep, curled up, either in houses or on them. When they are given food, they eat some of it and try to hide the rest. Since there are two foxes, each is afraid that its neighbor will find its hiding place and hides the food many times. Foxes live peacefully among themselves, and if they don’t like something in their partner’s behavior, they urge him to maintain distance with a very characteristic pose. The animal slightly lowers its head, presses its ears, opens its mouth and makes a peculiar sound - something between a whine and a cough. Thus, conflicts, if they occur, are resolved peacefully.

One of the foxes is very shy and rarely leaves the house during the day. The other one is not afraid of people, it can come close to the bars, but do not try to pet it or feed it - it might bite.

You can also see a fox in one of the enclosures at the “Fauna of Russia” exhibition. There are also foxes in the visiting section of the zoo. These animals go to lectures in schools, kindergartens, museums, and participate in holidays. These animals are completely tame. But in order for them to become like this, the cubs must fall into the hands of a trainer when they are very young and grow up in constant contact with people. People need to put in a lot of patience so that animals, when they become adults, have unlimited trust in their “big brothers.”

In the zoo, foxes live for a long time, delighting with their magnificent fur coats in winter, and surprising with their long thin legs and large ears in summer. Their diet is very diverse: from fruits and vegetables to fish and meat.

Fox: description, structure, characteristics. What does a fox look like?

Fox - carnivorous mammal, belongs to the canine family, that is, it is a distant relative of both the wolf and the domestic dog.

The size of a fox depends on its species and varies from 18 cm (the smallest fox is the fennec fox) to 90 cm. The weight of the fox also varies - from 0.7 to 10 kg. All foxes stand out in a special way generic sign– elongated muzzle, elongated body, but with short limbs.

And every decent fox has a fluffy tail. This fluffy fox tail was not only created for beauty by nature, but also serves practical purposes: it acts as a stabilizer during running, and in the winter cold it can additionally warm its owner. The length of a fox's tail depends on its species, on average it is 40-60 cm.

The fox's hearing and sense of smell are well developed; these animals primarily rely on them during the hunt. As for vision, it is also well developed, moreover, it is adapted for a nocturnal lifestyle and allows you to see well in the dark. But the only drawback of a fox's vision is that it is not able to recognize colors. A fox has 42 teeth in its mouth, with the exception of the big-eared fox, which has as many as 48 teeth.

The fox's body is covered with red hair, the thickness of this hair depends on the type of fox and its habitat, and can also vary depending on the time of year. For example, foxes living in harsh northern conditions have winter time the fur becomes thick and lush, but in the summer the lushness of the fox's fur decreases.

Where does the fox live?

Foxes live over a wide geographical range, they can be found in the forests of Europe, Asia, North America, North Africa and even Australia. Foxes also live in our Ukrainian forests. Foxes often hide from human eyes in holes that they either dig themselves or do not hesitate to take them from other animals. They can also be found in caves and even large tree hollows.

What does a fox eat in the wild?

What does a fox eat in his forest? As we already wrote above, the fox - beast of prey and various smaller living creatures serve as food for it - various rodents (field mice, gophers), hares, birds nesting on the ground. The fox does not disdain carrion, as well as leftovers from other predators (wolves, bears), especially if this happens in winter, when catching fresh animals is more problematic.

Foxes living in steppe regions can also eat various large insects (beetles, termites, locusts) and frogs as food. If there is a river nearby, then the fox will not miss the opportunity to feast on fish. IN summer period The foxes' menu is varied with different fruits, berries, fruits, since, like bears, foxes are omnivores.

Interesting fact: while hunting, a fox can reach speeds of up to 50 km per hour.

Fox lifestyle

Foxes are usually nocturnal, hiding in their burrows during the day and going out to hunt at night. This is facilitated by the peculiarity of their vision, which allows them to see perfectly at night.

Foxes, as a rule, live alone, sometimes in groups of two or three, and have their own territory, which they mark with their excrement.

How long does a fox live?

Lifespan of a fox natural conditions on average, it ranges from 3 to 10 years, although in the zoo a fox can live up to 25 years. This difference is due to the fact that older foxes cannot hunt as successfully in natural conditions.

Fox's enemies

In nature, the fox does not have many enemies; some danger may come from the same wolves and bears, but only if the fox inadvertently encroaches on their prey. And so, the main enemy of the fox (like many other animals) is the most dangerous predator - man. Many foxes were exterminated by hunters and poachers for their fluffy fur, which is subsequently used for fur coats.

Why is the fox cunning

Why is the fox called cunning? Some believe that this bad reputation is due to the hunting habits of these animals. The fact is that the fox always sneaks up on its prey very cunningly, it can patiently watch for hours in ambush near a hare's hole, and when potential prey appears in sight, it also very deftly and lightning quickly grabs it with its teeth.

In addition, foxes are excellent at confusing their tracks and evading pursuit by abruptly changing the direction of movement; probably thanks to these skills and habits, the epithet “cunning” has been attached to the fox since ancient times.

Types of foxes, photos and names

There are several main types of foxes in nature, and below we will describe each of them in more detail.

She is also the red fox, the most popular and at the same time the largest representative of the fox family. The weight of the common fox reaches up to 10 kg, the length of the body including the tail is 150 cm. The color of the red fox, although red, can have many different shades depending on the place of residence of the fox; a characteristic difference of this type of fox is the presence of a white tip on end of the tail and black ears on top. The common fox lives throughout Europe, Asia, northern Africa, North America, and Australia.

The American fox lives exclusively on the American continent in the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. It is of medium size: its body length ranges from 37 to 50 cm. The back of this fox species is colored yellowish-gray. A characteristic feature of the American fox is the presence of a black tip on its tail.

Also known as the Bukhara fox, the Balochistan fox is a relatively small representative of its species, its length does not exceed 0.5 meters, and its weight varies from 1.5 to 3 kg. Among other foxes, the Afghan fox stands out for its large ears, up to 9 cm in height. The fur color of this fox is a rich brownish-gray color. It lives in Afghanistan and neighboring countries. Also found in Egypt, UAE, Turkmenistan.

The African fox is very similar in appearance to the common fox, the only thing is that it is several times smaller in size. Its total length does not exceed 70-75 cm, and its weight is on average 3.5-3.6 kg. Another difference from the common fox is the presence of longer legs and ears. Lives in many African countries.

She is also an Indian fox, usually of medium size, maximum length is 60 cm. The fur of the Bengal fox is short and smooth, has a red-brown or sandy-brown color. It lives in India, in the foothills of the Himalayas, Bangladesh, and Nepal.

Steppe fox (corsac fox)

This fox is also very similar to the common fox, but unlike it, it has an even more pointed muzzle, longer legs and wider ears. But they are smaller in size, body length is 0.5-0.6 m, and weight is 4-6 kg. It has a lighter coat color and a dark or dark brown tail tip. The steppe fox lives in many countries, from southeast Europe to Asia, including Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and Azerbaijan.

This type of fox boasts wide ears and equally wide paws, which have special pads that protect the fox from hot sand with thick fur. The pale brown color of the sand fox also serves as an excellent camouflage against the background of sand and stones where it lives. The dimensions of this fox are average - length is 89-90 cm, weight - 3.5-3.6 kg. The sand fox lives in the deserts of North Africa, from Morocco and Egypt to Somalia.

It has a brown or fiery red color on the back, turning into light gray on the sides. This fox lives on the territory of the Tibetan plateau and is also found in India, Nepal and China. Its length is 60-70 cm, weight – up to 5 kg.

fennec

Fenech is notable for the fact that it is the smallest fox in the world, its body length is only 40 cm and its weight is up to 1.5 kg. Despite the smallest size in the fox kingdom, the fennec also has the largest ears among all foxes, their length reaches up to 15 cm. Fennecs, like sand foxes, live in the deserts of North Africa, and their paws also have special protective pads that protect their owners from hot on the sand there. I have a red color, the tip of their tail is black.

Despite the name, its ears are not as large as those of the fennec fox, however, the ears of this fox are disproportionately large and reach 13 cm. The big-eared fox has a gray-yellow color with white, yellow or brown spots. A characteristic feature of this species is the presence of as many as 48 teeth (all other foxes have only 42). This fox lives in Southern and Eastern Africa.

Fox breeding

How does a fox reproduce? Like their distant relatives, wolves, foxes are monogamous animals in which the mating season occurs at a certain period of the year. Its timing depends on the type of fox, but as a rule it lasts from December to March. To create offspring and train them, the male and female fox temporarily form a full-fledged pair.

The pregnancy of a female fox, depending on its species, lasts from 48 to 60 days, after which small fox cubs are born; in one litter there are from 4 to 16 babies, which, like kittens, are born blind and only subsequently their eyes appear.

For a month and a half after birth, the babies are breastfed, only after that, when their first teeth begin to erupt, the mother fox gradually begins to tame them to meat food, and then to its prey. To do this, the mother fox teaches them to hunt various small insects, beetles, and frogs. After a few months, the fox cubs already increase sharply in size, and after a year they completely leave their parents completely ready for independent life in the forest.

Sexual maturity in foxes occurs in the second year of life.

Fox at home: maintenance and care

If you are looking for extravagance, then instead of the usual ones or a dog, you can have a fox at home, it is only important to remember that keeping these animals has a number of rules:

A fox's cage must be spacious so that it can make a den there.
There must also be a drinking bowl in the cage so that the fox does not feel thirsty.
You can and should train a fox, so it won’t get bored and can quickly become attached to its owners, like a dog, another distant relative.
However, aggressive play with a fox is not recommended; it may bite.
In the summer, foxes can emit a very strong and unpleasant odor, simply put, stink, so they will need to be bathed at least once every two weeks.
When keeping a fox at home, it is very important to have a good veterinarian who will regularly examine your unusual pet.

What to feed a fox at home

As for nutrition, foxes can be fed with dog food, although only the highest grade, chicken, beef or fish. In general, they are not very picky when it comes to nutrition.

For some peoples in ancient times, it was fox skins that served as money.
The fact that the fox is a frequent hero of many fairy tales is not news to anyone, but it is interesting that in ancient Mesopotamia it was revered as a sacred animal.
In medieval Japan, the fox was sometimes considered a real werewolf.
A fox's hearing is so strong that it can hear a squeak. field mouse at a distance of 100 meters.
You may be reading this article using the Mozilla Firefox browser, the symbol of which is our today’s heroine, the fox.

Fox, video

And finally interesting documentary about foxes from the Animal planet channel.

The fox is an omnivorous predator. There are up to 300 species of animals and several dozen species of plants that it feeds on. The fox's main food consists of small rodents. More often it eats various species of gray voles; in the absence of them in the food, other species numerous in the area predominate. Small rodents in the fox's food constitute everywhere from a few to 100% of the dry weight and rarely less than several tens of percent of the occurrences in the analyses. The fox eats fewer birds, of which passerines, chickens and waterfowl predominate. It often feeds on insects and other invertebrates, as well as plant foods - fruits, berries, seeds and vegetative parts of plants, on the banks of rivers and inland waters - on fish, on the coasts of the seas - on waste (sea animals, fish, echinoderms, etc.).

There is a variety of food in different geographical landscapes. In the tundra zone and taiga zone, the main food is the northern voles Microtus middendorffi, M. oeconomus, M. agrestis, and less commonly p. Cteihrionomys. Mouse-like rodents were found in food analyses: up to 93% in the Lapland Nature Reserve, up to 70% in Kola Peninsula, in 62% in the Middle Kolyma region and Kamchatka, in 90% (out of 100% of all encounters) in the Eastern Sayan (Stolby Nature Reserve), in 35-38% with a small number of small rodents in the Middle Sakhalin Nature Reserve. In the Far North, a fox in the absence of gray voles in large quantities destroys lemmings p. Lemmas (up to 67% in winter in the Lapland Nature Reserve).

With a small number of small rodents, it preys on upland birds (up to 40% of encounters in the Lapland, 24.6% in the Pechoro-Ilych, 12-14% in the Middle Sakhalin and 5.3% in the Sayan ("Stolby") reserves), white partridge , wood grouse, hazel grouse, black grouse. In some years, he often catches a white hare (up to 15% of sightings in the Lapland and up to 52.7%) in the Pechora-Ilychsky reserves). Upland birds and white hare are eaten in large quantities only during the years of epizootics and pestilence among them. Foxes in Yakutia devoured especially many white hare during the years of mass epizootics and extinction of this rodent after its fabulous reproduction in 1955-1957. More than half of the foxes studied fed on hares at this time (more than 50% of encounters in food analyzes and 96% of encounters in the excrement of two litters of fox cubs). In other years, foxes eat hares relatively rarely (in the Sredne-Kolyma region 3.9% of sightings in food, in the Sredne-Sakhalinsky reserve in summer 8% and in winter 6%; in Kamchatka and in the Stolby reserve in analyzes of several dozen stomachs and excrements No foxes (hares) were found and only on the territory of the reserve were found in 2 cases out of 8 fox food remains). In the Far East, the mass movement and throwing up of red fish on river banks during spawning - chum salmon, pink salmon, coho salmon, etc., is important for the fox. The composition of the food of the fox on the Kuril Islands is unique; on the island of Urup in August 1955, the main feeding ground for foxes was the sea coast. It was impossible to identify the predominant food in the excrement and stomach contents; it consisted mainly of sea emissions and the only rodent here - the gray rat, as well as insects (24 samples of excrement and stomach contents, % of encounters):

gray rat 75
birds 88
fish 65
insects 100
crustaceans 72
sea urchins 37
plants 83

The food of the northern fox constantly contains sedges, cereals, spruce and fir needles, hazel and dwarf cedar fruits. Crowberries, lingonberries, blueberries, blueberries, raspberries, rowan berries, rose hips, hawthorns, etc. are eaten in large quantities.

In the southern strip of the forest zone of the European territory of the Union, mouse-like rodents in the years of their small numbers do not always serve as the main food. In addition to all kinds of forest-dwelling animals, foxes feed on carrion (up to 50% of the weight and up to 100% of the occurrences in food analyzes in the Moscow region in some years), often directly near human habitation, in poultry houses, in garbage dumps, they eat food and even inedible waste - scraps of belts, rags, etc.

In the forest-steppe and steppe zones, the fox feeds almost exclusively on small rodents, of which individual background and all year round waking views. In Ukraine, mouse-like rodents were found in 91.3% of studies of fox food; out of 9 species over 7 years was eaten more often than others common vole(Microtusarvalis) - 75% in winter and 62% during the year. In the steppes of Stavropol over 4 years, only 2 species of voles were found in food - common and social (M. socialis) - in 95-100% of cases in different years. In the southeast of European territory and in the steppes of Western Siberia and Kazakhstan, the main types of food are the narrow-skulled vole (Microtus gregalis) and the steppe pied (Lagurus tagurus); in the Tselinny Territory (formerly Akmola region), both species in June 1946 accounted for about 90% of the encounters in food. In the forest-steppe of the Novosibirsk and Omsk regions, mouse-like rodents during the period of a sharp change in their numbers in the food of several dozen foxes accounted for from 17 to 84% of encounters by season.

In the warm season, the fox catches various types of gray gophers. Their remains are found in the food of foxes: in Ukraine 2.3%, in the forest-steppe of the Voronezh region - up to 38%, in the black earth forb-grass steppe of the Stavropol Territory - in 13%, in the northern forb-grass steppe Saratov region- 47% and in the semi-desert virgin fescue-feather grass steppe of the Arzgir region in the Stavropol region - 67%. In the forest-steppe regions of the Novosibirsk and Omsk regions, foxes dug up gophers even in winter (8% of encounters in stomachs).

Snakes and lizards are found in the food of foxes in the steppes of the Ciscaucasia in 30% of cases. Insects (mainly beetles and locusts) - in the Stavropol region for a number of years - 30%, and in certain seasons of the year in the Stavropol region up to 62%, in the Kyiv region - 60%, in the Saratov region - 30% and in the Tselinny region (b. Akmola region) - 50%. From plant foods, the fox eats the fruits of some fruit trees and melons, and in years of low rodent numbers, it diligently eats vitamin-rich rose hips, as well as wheat grains and sunflower seeds.

The main food of the desert fox is various types of gerbils, depending on their abundance in nature. In the Volzhsk-Ural sands, the fox fed mainly on the midday gerbil (Pallasiomys meridianus) and the crested gerbil (Meriows tamariscinus). In the Kyzylkum and Karakum deserts, the great sand lance (Rhombomys opimus) is often caught, but in the spring of 1946, in the sands of the lower and middle reaches of the river. Murghab ate more midday (61% of occurrences in excrement) and less often large (25%). The weight of dry remains of gerbils in food was 84%. In the lower reaches of the river. Or for the spring and summer of 1939-1941. half of the studied foxes ate four types of gerbils, most often the great one - 5-40% in different years, less often the combed fox - up to 17%, then the midday - up to 10% and the red-tailed one - up to 15%. In southern Turkmenistan, in some breeding years of the Afghan vole (M. afghanus), the fox feeds mainly on it (up to 80% of encounters in food on the territory of the Badkhyz Nature Reserve in the foothills of Kopet-Dag). Of the jerboas, he most often catches the emoji (Scirtopoda telutri) and large species p. Allactaga. The sand hare, which is usually difficult to reach in the southern Balkhash region, is often caught by the fox during the years of its epizootic (48% of sightings in excrement in July 1939).

In years of low numbers of small rodents, insects serve as the main replacement (albeit inferior) food. In the northern semi-deserts, they account for up to 70% of the encounters in food analyzes in some years. In the deserts of the Kzyl-Orda region, the fox also feeds on phalanges, scorpions, tarantulas (up to 45% of encounters in food at Lake Telikul), in southern Turkmenistan it eats a lot of termites, beetles, locusts, etc. - up to 97% of encounters of all invertebrates in the food of foxes in pistachios (1956) and up to 98% in the river valley. Kushki (1954); for a total of 5 years - in 70.8% of cases. In Uzbekistan, insects were found in food on average 70.9% over 5 years. Quite often, the fox feeds on lizards, turtles, snakes and their eggs, destroying many vipers in the years of their mass appearance. Plant feed is also important, constituting an average of 12.8% in pistachios in Turkmenistan, and over the years up to 48% of the occurrences in the analyses. The main ones are pistachio nut - up to 74.8% of occurrences, as well as caper, watermelon, various cereals and seeds. In Uzbekistan, on average over 5 years, plant foods accounted for 74.5% of the occurrences in food, of which the main ones were grapes (20.2%), cereals, jida and others. In the Terek-Kuma sands in October 1957, a fox ate ephedra berries in abundance.

In the mountains of Crimea and the Caucasus, the fox most often also feeds on small rodents. In the mountains of Armenia near Kirovakan they were monthly for 1936-1939. 50 to 98% of dry matter weight in excrement and 65 to 100% of encounters. Gray voles p. were eaten more often than others. Microtus, mainly M. arvalis, but also quite often M. socialis, which, together with the bush vole (p. Pitymys) and the rare snow vole (p. Chionotnys) accounted for 85% of the specimens (out of 1727) of all mammals in these studies . Cases of eating the brown hare were rare (less than 0.1% of the weight of dry remains and 1-1.5% of sightings). In all seasons of the year, although little by little, the fox caught insects (up to 42% of encounters), mainly locusts, beetles, and grasshoppers. In the mountainous Crimea, the fox attacks young animals and weakened individuals of adult roe deer (up to 29% of encounters in food). In fruit gardens he picks up carrion of apples, pears, cherry plums, cherries, sloe, grapes and others; eats melons and other melons.

Hunting for small rodents during snow cover becomes very difficult, especially in the second half of winter when there is a lot of snow, as well as after thaws, when ice crusts form, layering the snow cover during the winter. The fox often cannot break through these crusts, and this also slows down the capture of rodents. In such years, foxes switch to any live food available to them, and in their absence, to carrion, human waste, and even animal and human feces. Everywhere in hungry years, the fox eats, and more often crushes and throws small insectivorous mammals- shrews, shrews and moles, which are usually not eaten by it, and sometimes (even less often) it eats small predators - weasel, ermine, even marten and others, which usually make up about 1% of encounters among the remains of its food. However, in the mid-30s, with a small number of small rodents in the central forest areas of the European territory of the Union, small predators were eaten by foxes more often and, for example, were found in the stomachs of four foxes (out of 12 killed). During these years, the stomachs of the foxes were at times completely filled with the remains of hedgehogs swallowed along with the skin, so that the needles of these animals stuck out in all directions, protruding from under the thin wall of the stomach.

Age differences in the food of foxes are insignificant. In the steppes of the Stavropol region and in the deserts of the southern Balkhash region, the food of fox cubs is more varied than that of adults.

IN foreign countries The fox's food is also varied. The main food in Bulgaria is small mouse-like rodents, less often - the hare (11% of occurrences in food, some of them are wounded animals), then carrion, less - various birds, in summer - insects and other food, quite often - fruits, berries, melons. In Finland, the fox feeds mainly on farm waste and small mammals (hare 6%, other species less). In England, it often eats rabbits, less often hares, as well as garbage and carrion; In the absence of faucets, the main food sources are mouse-like rodents and carrion. In the eastern and middle states of the United States, foxes' food consists of rodents, insects, birds, carrion, and some other groups of animals. The main food is mouse-like rodents pp. Microtus and Peromyscus. In some places, muskrat, pheasants, locusts, and fruits are important. In the forests of Michigan, the fox often eats hares p. Sylvitagus and voles pp. Synaptomys and Microtus, also beetles, etc.

The composition of fox food varies greatly in the same area over the years and seasons, as well as among biotopes, depending on the abundance and availability of a particular food. In the chernozem forb-grass steppe of the Staromaryevsky district of the Stavropol Territory, the feeding regime of foxes changed over the years and seasons in accordance with the number of mouse-like rodents. A characteristic indicator of well-being in the fox’s diet is the reduction in the remains of secondary types of food in excrement and stomachs filled with mouse-like rodents in the years 1937/38 and 1940/41. On the contrary, the variety of residues of secondary food during the seasons of reduction in the number of small rodents and the small amount of the latter in excrement and stomachs in the autumn and winter of 1938/39, 1939/40 and the summer of 1940. indicated problems with food.

In the Kushka Valley (southern Turkmenistan), the fox’s food changed extremely dramatically with the seasons. In spring and summer, the main food was insects (97.7% of encounters), mainly termites, locusts, and beetles; small rodents were found in 1.1% of cases. In autumn and winter, insects accounted for only 58.1%, but the importance of mouse-like rodents increased (18.6%), especially the Afghan vole, reptiles and carrion; Hedgehogs disappeared and the number of passerine bird species decreased significantly.

Significantly less differences between seasons are expressed in the food of foxes in Ukraine. Over the 7 years studied, in different areas, the fox ate 118 species of animals and 25 species of plants. Summer and autumn had a greater variety of food (83 and 80 species), while spring and winter had a smaller variety (40 and 56 species). The main food group in all seasons of the year remained mouse-like rodents, making up 97.5% of encounters (among the remains of all mammals), of which voles - 76.5%.

Who is this fox? What she looks like, where she lives and what she eats, what her habits are - our message will tell you about all this.

What kind of animal is this? What does a fox look like

The fox is a predatory animal that belongs to the canine family.

Externally It looks like a medium-sized dog, but its habits are more cat-like. On her flexible body there is a neat head with a sharp muzzle and mobile, always alert, large dark ears; her legs are short, thin, but strong.

The fur coat of this animal deserves special attention - it is lush, beautiful, and comes in different colors. Most often, bright red foxes are found, but there may also be black, black-brown, and silver ones. There is such a pattern: in the northern regions the fur of these animals is thick and bright, but the further you go south, the more modest it is in both density and color. And the tail of foxes is very beautiful - long, up to 60 cm, fluffy, always with a white tip. Foxes are hunted only for their valuable fur.

Hearing and vision, smell and touch

The fox has excellent hearing. A hundred steps away she can hear the rustling of a mouse in a hole, the distant flapping of wings and the babbling of a hare. Her large ears, like locators, are very good at identifying the source of sound. The fox can also determine the distance from where the sound came to it.

This animal has interesting vision: far-sighted eyes are adapted to notice even the smallest movement of a blade of grass, see well in the dark But the fox does not distinguish colors well, so it can come very close to a motionless person.

She has a good sense of smell, but many other animals have a much more acute sense of smell.

Very good for foxes developed sense of touch: Walking softly and silently on the ground, leaves or snow, they feel the smallest details with their springy paws. They can find a hole with just their paws.

Where do they live?

Foxes can be found all over northern hemisphere Earth, even in .

They dig holes for themselves with several entrances and exits and underground tunnels that lead to the nest.

Sometimes they occupy other people's homes, for example, badger holes. Here they breed and hide from danger. They spend a lot of time in the den in an open place, under a bush, in the grass or snow. They sleep very lightly.

What do they eat?

Fox - predator, excellent, very fast and dexterous hunter. She gets great pleasure from the hunting process itself. Its prey is small rodents, moles,... Loves to feast on eggs, eats insects, their larvae, worms, catches fish and crayfish. In times of hunger, it does not disdain carrion. Can diversify the diet with berries and fruits.

By the way, by exterminating rodents and beetles, the fox brings great benefits to agriculture.

Reproduction

The mating season for foxes is January-February. One female is courted by several males at once, who fight each other until they bleed. The fox creates a pair with the winner. Foxes are good parents. They do everything together - they dig a hole, raise offspring, get food.

The female's pregnancy lasts 2 months, in early spring in the burrow 5-7 blind and deaf puppies are born(that's what fox cubs are called). At 2 weeks, puppies begin to see and hear, and they are teething. But for a month and a half, the babies do not leave the hole, feeding on their mother’s milk. Only in June do the fox cubs begin to go outside with their parents. They play and frolic in the sun, learn to hunt.

In mid-autumn, foxes leave their families to live independently. At 2 years old they are already able to reproduce.

Types of foxes

Total in nature there are more than 20 types these animals. The most common is ordinary red fox. There are also African, Bengal, gray, sand, small, Brazilian and other types of foxes.

One of the most interesting is the fennec. This is a miniature fox with an interesting appearance; it is even smaller in size than a cat... Lives in North Africa.

Habits

Why In all fairy tales, the fox is quick-witted, cunning and insidious, dexterous and smart? Because that's what she really is. One can only wonder how this animal knows how to confuse its tracks, deceive game, pretend and deceive. Although you shouldn’t attribute any incredible abilities to the fox.