Gray foxes range throughout the US, except the northwestern quarter, as well as northern Mexico and Baja California. We have gray foxes in our Carolina mountains, but they are rarer on our coast. The gray fox is different from other species of fox found in Western NC. A quick way to tell the difference in the gray and red fox is that the gray fox has a black tip on its tail, and the red fox has a white tip on its tail.

DESCRIPTION

The gray fox weighs between 7 and 13 pounds. It has a salt-and-pepper coat with buffy underfur, usually a median black stripe down its back and long bushy tail, and a black tip on its tail. There can be other color phases - red, cross (red coat with a darkish strip down the back and across the shoulders), and black.   

HABITS AND HABITATS

The gray fox is omnivorous. It feeds on cottontail rabbits, mice, and other small mammals, birds, eggs, insects, plant material, and fruits. The gray fox is primarily nocturnal, but may occasionally be seen foraging during the daylight hours. They mate around February and March, and have 2-7 young, which are born in March or April. The male helps tend to the young, although he does not den with them. They den in hollow logs, beneath boulders, in ground burrows, or in hillsides. The young begin to hunt on their own around 4 months of age. Gray foxes prefer woody, brushy habitats, unlike the red fox which prefers more open habitats. Gray foxes have been known to climb trees to find refuge from a threat, or to forage for eggs or fruit.

HISTORY

The gray fox belongs to the genus, Urocyon. They branched off from the ancient canids and have existed as their own branch for about 4- 6 million years. The gray fox and red fox existed on different branches of the Canidae family tree. There are two gray fox species: the Channel Island gray fox (Urocyon littoralis) which occupies six small islands off the coast of California; and the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) which is the species that occupies Western North Carolina, as well as other places in North America. Gray foxes have historically been hunted for their pelts, and still are during trapping season. Some are raised on game farms for their pelts. Traditionally, foxes have been hunted by hounds which are followed by their owners on foot or horseback. The foxes are not always taken. Due to the gray foxes’ secretive nature and nocturnal habits, they are a difficult wild canid to study. We know now that foxes play an important role in our ecosystem, and are fast losing the reputation of being undesirable animals.

MEET OUR GRAY FOXES

The Nature Center is home to a male and a female gray fox.  They were born in April of 1998 and arrived at the Nature Center in October of 2002 from the Cincinnati Zoo.  Our gray foxes receive a balanced diet of dry dog food, mice, fruit, eggs, peanuts, vegetables, beef heart, a commercially prepared zoo diet for carnivores, crickets, mealworms, and occasionally minnows. If you like our gray foxes and find them particularly fascinating, you can support them by participating in our “Adopt an Animal” Program through the Friends of the Nature Center!

INFORMATION LINKS

National Fox Welfare Society (British)

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©2002 WNC Nature Center