Our First Red Fox

The following story about a red fox was submitted by All Things Wild Rehabilitation in Texas.

The 10-week-old, red fox kit was hiding under his mother when a farmer shot the mother. The bullet passed through the mother, killing her, and lodged briefly in the neck of the youngster. The kit ran, but the farmer chased him down in his truck and called animal control to come get him. All Things Wild was notified and met the farmer in a small Texas town east of Waco. The farmer said the mother was getting at his chickens, but he had no quarrel with the young kit.

We rushed the young, red fox kit back to our rehabilitation center in Georgetown where our center director was leaving after a long day of work. She put down her things and began working on the wound in the fox’s neck. While under anesthesia, the wound was cleaned and closed. The kit was given a healthy dose of pain medication and antibiotics and then fed Emeraid IC Carnivore food for the night.

About Red Foxes

As a rabies-vector species (which means that the species can get, but doesn’t necessarily have, rabies), the fox required two weeks of quarantine to make sure he was free of rabies and distemper. He was isolated from other injured animals in a large cage near the medical area where he could be carefully watched by the medical staff.

Red foxes are the most widely distributed carnivorous mammals in the world. They can be found in North America, throughout Europe, in parts of Russia, northern Africa, India, Japan, and Australia. Their success can be attributed to the fact that they adapt well to different habitats — from cities to forests and along the coast. Also, they are excellent hunters with eyes that enable them to see in the dark, as well as superb hearing and an acute sense of smell. Their diet consists of birds, small mammals, insects, berries, fruits, and human food. They are renowned for their persistence in breaking into chicken coops.

Males are slightly larger than females on the average although it is difficult to tell males and females apart from a distance. They mate in December to early February when courtship between the sexes consists of lots of high-pitched screams and squeals. Once they have established themselves as a couple, the female either digs a den or finds a suitable place to give birth to three to five cubs after approximately an 8-week gestation period.

The cubs are born blind and toothless, and the female, called the vixen, stays with them without leaving for the first two weeks until the cubs are able to thermoregulate or produce their own body heat. During that time, the female is fed by the male, called a dog fox. After the first two-week period, the female begins leaving the den for short periods to hunt for food. After four weeks, the cubs begin emerging from the den.

The family stays together during the summer and early autumn, but in October, some of the fully grown cubs leave to establish their own territories. Other cubs stay with the family to help raise next season’s litter.

The Young Red Fox

The little red fox at our rehabilitation center is the first red fox we have had since we opened our center more than four years ago. His neck wound is healing nicely, and we know he is feeling better because he is starting to get snappy.

Once he has completed the two-week quarantine period, he will go to a special fox rehabilitator out in the country far away from people. That way, he will become habituated to only one person but will be fearful of all other people. That’s the way it should be so he can be successfully returned to his home in the wild.