Monday, December 10, 2007

Fox Identification















These are some fox pictures taken in the front yard last night. I am going to move the camera into the back yard today, but before I do that I thought I would point out that there are actually two or three different foxes here.

Notice that one fox has a white tip on the tail, and the other does not. The one without the white tip also has a dark patch on his back.

In fact, I may actually have had three foxes visiting the front yard last night. I think the last picture, which shows a very slim fox with a strong white flag, may be a different animal than the one immediately above -- a bit hard to tell.

Three foxes, by the way would not be a territory problem at all, as often a young vixen will stay in orbit around a mated dog and older vixen. This "satellite vixen" might be a kit (sometimes called a pup) from a year or two earlier, or it might simply be a young vixen allowed to hunt in the area (though she will not be allowed to breed).

Red fox normally have a white tip at the end of the tail, but as these picture make clear, not all do.

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