The fox is a predator, common in all forests of Russia. And not only in Russia. Its range is amazingly wide. The fox can be found throughout Eurasia right up to China, it is also found in Africa, and almost throughout Australia.

The appearance of an ordinary common fox is well known to everyone since childhood. This is a red coat with a white belly and tail tip, as well as dark paws. The color of the coat varies depending on the habitat of the animal. In the northern regions, foxes are lighter in color, while in the southern regions they have a darker color. Ordinary foxes are characteristic seasonal molt. Their fur is thinner and sparser in summer than in winter. They usually dress in their thick and fluffy winter coat by the end of November or the beginning of December.

Again, foxes do not live only in nature. They also chose the outskirts of large cities. They can be found in landfills, in the basements of houses, in parks. In some major cities these cunning animals make their way to the very center. Sometimes animal trapping services take the captured foxes out of the city. But they mostly return to their former place a habitat.

Foxes are generally very attached to their home. They live in pairs or whole families. Usually cubs do not settle far from their native hole, more often they remain at a distance of three to ten kilometers. This, of course, is not a strict rule. It also happens that a fox can migrate over a distance of more than five hundred kilometers.

Common foxes are predators. They are excellent hunters. They feed mainly on rodents. Mainly in winter. In the month when the ground is covered with snow, the fox listens to the rustles and squeaks of small rodents. From them, she determines the location of her future dinner. Then it dives into the snow with a jump, digs into it and gets the long-awaited food. But, in general, foxes are not very whimsical in choosing a diet. According to some reports, there are about 400 species of animals on the menu of the fox. They can even attack roe deer cubs. Sometimes they purposefully hunt hares. These animals can eat both fresh prey and carrion. And even some kinds of plants.

For habitat, foxes choose a territory that meets all fox requirements. There should be enough food and comfortable places to set up a home. Foxes live in burrows. But these cunning animals don't always dig them up on their own. It often happens that they occupy someone's already prepared holes. For example, a badger hole. Or groundhog. Or another burrowing creature right size. It rarely happens that a fox can live in the same hole with the same badger. Only in different parts underground dwelling. For burrows, foxes choose ravines with sandy slopes. They settle so that the house is protected from water ingress and, accordingly, flooding. However, the presence permanent place they need to live only during the period of raising puppies. The rest of the time it is enough for them to spend the night, hiding in the snow or grass. And foxes are good at hiding. Before falling asleep, the fox first observes the surroundings motionlessly for a while to make sure it is safe. As soon as she is visited by such confidence, the fox curls up into a ball and falls asleep.

You can find many references to the red fox in folklore. different countries. In Russia, she is usually the embodiment of cunning and deceit. In the literature of other countries, they do not forget to point out the sharp mind of this animal. What is worth only the very fox from the "Little Prince", which owns the immortal phrase: "We are responsible for those we have tamed."

Let's admire together an ordinary, but such an extraordinary fox.

The red fox or common fox is the largest representative of the fox genus from the Canine family. The animal has an elongated muzzle, a fluffy long tail, which the fox uses as a warm blanket to cover its nose and front paws during rest.

The tail can reach sixty centimeters in length. The wool of the fluffy fox is long and beautiful, and also very warm. Depending on the habitat, the color and tone saturation of the fur may vary, but basically the back and sides of the foxes are bright red, and the belly is white.

On the paws, characteristic black stockings or blotches are clearly visible. But the main hallmark The red fox has a course white tail tip and pointed black ears.

The paws of the fox are quite powerful and muscular, despite the fact that they are a bit short. Thanks to them and a powerful tail, the fox makes very decent jumps in pursuit of prey.

These qualities enable the fox to be in no way inferior to many predators in the struggle for life.

Foxes, which are bred in captivity on fur farms, come in an unusual platinum and silver-black color.

If a fox with a fur coat of this color manages to escape and catch the eye of the hunters, it becomes the object of instant persecution, because. fox skins of this color are highly valued.

Where does the red fox live?

The red fox lives almost everywhere on the planet: in Europe, Asia, North America, in North Africa, in Australia, with the exception of the Tundra and the islands.

In Europe alone, the vast population of the red fox includes more than fifteen subspecies.

Foxes are able to adapt to any climatic conditions.

What does a fox eat and who does it hunt?

The red fox is a predator, so its diet is appropriate: small animals, rodents, hares, ruin the nests of capercaillie and geese, hunt roe deer cubs, do not disdain carrion, various insects and beetles.

Well, domestic chickens and chickens, when the fox manages to get into the chicken coop, become tasty prey.

The most interesting thing is that foxes often exterminate various cereals, in particular oats, when there is no way to get to anything meat, and cause significant damage to agricultural crops.

It’s not for nothing that the fox is called cunning, she has a huge amount of different ways hunting and catching prey.

The fox simply pushes the hedgehog into the water so that it opens up and can be grabbed by the stomach, where there are no needles. Mice, ground squirrels and other rodents are easily identified by sound and dug out from under the snow in winter. In general, mice are a well-known fox delicacy, and in some regions the population of common faces depends directly on the number of rodents.

Foxes hunt geese in pairs, while one fox distracts a gaping goose, the second swiftly attacks prey.

The fox is able to adapt to the habits of any animal she has planned for dinner.

Foxes hunt around the clock, when prey is found, but of course, night is the main time for fishing.

When a fox walks in the snow, it puts its hind legs strictly in the footprint of the front ones, forming a kind of chain.
Foxes that live near rivers are happy to eat fish, often caught during spawning or in shallow water.

In total, the diet of the red fox includes about four hundred species of animals and several dozen species of plants.

Foxes living in the desert are content with the meat of various snakes and lizards.

How the red fox reproduces and has offspring

Cubs of the common fox are born in most cases in mid-spring. When foxes plan to have offspring, they dig a deep hole, although if they find it ready, they immediately occupy it.

As a rule, a female fox gives birth to from four to twelve puppies, as the cubs are also called. The fox's gestation period lasts from six to eight weeks, and after the foxes are born, the red-haired mother feeds them with milk for a month and a half.

Little fox cubs look like wolf cubs, they can only be distinguished by the white tip of the tail. The cubs fully mature by the age of two and, becoming adults, begin to hunt and kill prey on their own.

Red foxes develop stable married couples and the male takes a direct part in the upbringing of offspring.


Red fox enemies

Of course, the main fighters of the red fox were and are hunters who, for the sake of beautiful and expensive fur, exterminate a huge number of foxes, which has an irreversible impact on the population of these beautiful animals in many regions.

And in the forest, the fox competes for prey and, of course, is at enmity with wolves and other large animals.

In many photos, the fox appears with a sly muzzle, which is completely true.

Where is the fox's home

For life, foxes build a lair in an open place, in grass or in snow. A fox either digs a hole itself or can evict some animal, a polar fox or a badger.

The burrow has several entrances with underground manholes for possible escape in case of danger. The old fox has several holes in different places, where he takes refuge in case of impending danger.

fox photo

Fox - predatory mammal which belongs to the canine family. This is an unusually attractive predator with a long and fluffy tail. No wonder in the old days there were many fairy tales with the participation of this predatory beauty.

The group of foxes includes only 11 species. The most common of these is the common or red fox.

The red fox refers to the most big representative sort of, its weight varies from 6 to 10 kg. Body length(without a fluffy tail) is from 60 to 90 cm. Well, the smallest fox is the fennec fox, whose length is 30-40 cm, and its weight is no more than 2 kg.

The predator prefers to live in the steppes, tundra, forest belt and desert. IN Lately more and more often, residents of villages or the outskirts of houses complain about the machinations of foxes. People are not happy with such a neighborhood, because the fox loves to eat pets (birds, ducks, geese, etc.). Moreover, even the presence of dogs in the house does not stop the predator.

Mostly foxes found on five continents:

  • Africa,
  • Eurasia,
  • Australia,
  • North and South America.

The color of a fox depends on its habitat. So, in the steppe you can meet a gray-yellow fox, in the north - red. Fox fur for a very long time is valued and considered the most beautiful, so they began to breed predators even on farms.

Fox diet

What does the fox eat? Although she belongs to the predators, her diet is very large. Of course, the basis is meat. The diet of a predator can include more than 300 different small mammals, rodents and birds. The diet of the fox depends on the time of year and its habitat.

What do foxes eat in winter? The most attractive type of food at this time of the year are rodents. More often, the family of voles. Hunting foxes for rodents resembles hunting cats. The fox also applies the effect of surprise, having tracked down the victim, attacks it without a chance. This process is called mouseover.

In winter, the fox carefully checks forest plantations and river banks in search of a bird; it can also eat carrion. Birds are caught both small and large. Does not pass by eggs and chicks. In the forest belt, the predator loves to eat hares, if she finds a hare hole, she destroys the entire hare family. Having met a roe deer, it will not pass by either. Well, near residential buildings, she is not averse to looking into the chicken coop. . This is such a rich diet. fox food even in winter time of the year.

What does a fox eat in spring and summer? At this time of the year, the predator eats quite densely, because at this time she has her own cubs. At the end of March, the cubs are born; for a month and a half, they feed on mother's milk. Usually 5-6 foxes are born. By the end of April, they are already starting to play and climb out of their holes. Mom and dad at this moment are already beginning to pamper their children with living food. During the period of feeding cubs, foxes can also hunt larger birds - swans. Rodents are brought to fox cubs to develop their passion for hunting.

In addition to its main food, the fox can eat wild berries and fruits. As a rule, foxes that live in the southern regions resort to this.

The food of the fox in the desert is different. Here the predator can also eat reptiles, beetles, larvae, earthworms. Often she catches dead fish from the reservoirs.

In the taiga, foxes have a hard time because there is not much food in this place. The basis of the diet is made up of small rodents and birds.

Feeding a predator at home

Currently, more and more often you can see unusual animals in people, including predatory ones. Of course, it is recommended to have predatory animals in the house at a young age. A wild fox can be kept at home, but it should be created the necessary conditions for a normal life. Including you need to pay attention to the nutrition of the predator.

Keep the fox in an aviary. Keeping a predator in an apartment is less convenient than in a private house. This will require a large cage where the fox can play. For the toilet you need a box of sand. To accustom a fox to such a tray will not be difficult. It is necessary to let the fox out of the cage, at least when the owner is at home.

It is better to feed high-quality dog ​​food, and for a change, you should pamper the predator with berries and fruits. But do not forget that the fox is also a predator, you can feed it with chicken giblets and cartilage.

It is forbidden to feed foxes with raw fish and bones. Little foxes are usually fed milk or dairy products. But when getting such an animal at home, one should be wary of its behavior, which can be completely unpredictable, and sometimes dangerous even for the owner.

Thus, the diet of the fox is quite varied. It depends on the nature and living conditions, as well as on the season. Someone thinks that a fox can only eat meat, however, in addition to the main diet, she can eat more fruits and berries.

Sometimes you can be surprised at how many stereotypes associated with various animals surround us in life. It is generally accepted that the dirtiest animal is the pig, the most cowardly is the hare, and the fox eats exclusively chickens and bunnies. But if you watch all these animals a little, you can make sure that our ideas about them do not always correspond to reality. In all such cases, there is a fixation of a single behavioral method, which then, for some reason, spread to the entire lifestyle of this or that animal in the form of a stable opinion. Among such situational stereotypes, there is one: the fox lives in a hole.

No, we won’t tell now that foxes actually build huts for themselves in the depths of the forest, walk on their hind legs and confuse poor bunnies with human voices, luring them into their red nets. Such foxes live in children's fairy tales, and we will leave them there. We will try to figure out the location of the fox, using the observations of scientists and professional hunters.

Visiting the fox-sister

The fox is one of the most adaptable animals that can easily adapt to almost any environment. In addition to the forest, they willingly settle in drained and plowed swamps, in those places where they are engaged in cutting down forests and increasing sown areas. It is no secret that in the old days in many countries of the world, foxes allowed themselves to run into big cities. This habit has continued to this day: modern England, for example, foxes perfectly settled down on vast agricultural lands and began to settle down in city parks. Foxes can be found even in the center of London, and a city like Birmingham has long and fairly suffered from the dirt that foxes have spread, and despite all the efforts of the city authorities and volunteer hunters aimed at catching foxes, they, even being taken out to forest, still return to the city. Wherever the fox settles, she chooses for her residence the open areas and landscapes she likes. And here we come to the main fox feature: foxes spend almost all their time in these open spaces. A fox lives in a hole only in two cases: when raising offspring and when winter sets in - that is, only a few months a year. At the same time, she prefers to use natural depressions in the ground - for example, a pit from under an uprooted tree or under its roots, in a ravine - or other people's, often abandoned dwellings - for example, a badger's hole. However, if there are no free holes in the area she has chosen, she has to dig her own shelter on her own.

Since a fox's hole is a temporary phenomenon, it digs it where it can be done easily and simply: for example, on the slope of a ravine or hill with a predominance of sandy or sandy loamy soil, in an old abandoned trench, mine, basin, even in an ordinary ditch. The fox hole is shallow and simply arranged, most often it has one entrance (rarely two) and is a straight passage without side holes, leading to the nesting chamber at a depth of about one meter. If the fox digs the so-called. hatching (or brood) hole, where she breeds, then there are two or three otnorks in it, from which there are underground corridors up to ten meters long, connecting them with the already mentioned chamber. Through these snouts, the fox can leave the shelter in case of danger. Such a hole is made near some reservoir. Even in the desert, foxes try to concentrate within a radius of eight to ten kilometers near wells where nomads bring cattle to drink, but there have been cases when hunters found fox holes in a completely waterless area, where the fox and its offspring quenched their thirst due to the moisture contained in the fat and rodent tissues. In front of the entrance to the hole, there is usually a trampled area where the cubs play. The fox does not make toilets and pollutes the entire space around the hole with its excrement and remnants of meals. It is interesting that the male fox, who is a good family man and anxiously takes care of his girlfriend, actively helps the fox in arranging the hole and raising the fox cubs.

Sometimes a fox digs not one hole, but a whole system of shelters, reaching up to several dozen and located not far from each other. In this way, she protects her brood hole from various dangers, primarily from human persecution. According to the observations of scientists, the number of such holes is affected by the "anthropogenic load" - that is, the population of a given area by a person and the frequency of his visits. If these “disturbance factors” are high enough, then foxes increase the number of protective holes, their length, and change the system of their use accordingly. If there are many natural shelters in the area chosen by the fox, the animal digs fewer holes, but actively and fully uses the maximum possible number of shelters created by nature.

Two factors can limit the reproduction of foxes: the lack of places suitable for creating holes, and the lack of food in the territory chosen by them. In this case, in the fox world, the species self-regulates by creating so-called "family groups", usually consisting of one male and three or four females. It is interesting that in such a family, roles are strictly distributed between females: one or two females participate in reproduction, the rest look after the offspring, visit the brood hole, but this season they do not have their cubs. In autumn, when the young can already get their own food, the male leaves or is expelled from the “family”, while the females remain.

Despite the fact that the fox has a poorly developed “sense of home”, it sometimes happens that, for some reason, year after year it returns to the hole it dug once. If this happens, then her refuge is constantly expanding, renewing; the fox "finishes" additional "rooms", which are located on two or three floors. The nesting chamber in such burrows is already located at a depth of up to three meters, and up to a dozen otnorks can approach it. total length up to thirty or forty meters. Among hunters who are well acquainted with such types of holes, they are called "secular". The badger's dwelling has a similar structure.

But even in the hatching hole, the fox lives exactly as long as it takes for the cubs to grow up. In the autumn, when they are already adults, the fox leaves the hole and uses it only in winter during heavy snowfalls, snowstorms and wet snow, and in case of danger, when it is being hunted. And then it becomes difficult to smoke the fox out of the hole.

How to smoke a fox out of a hole

Before you start smoking a fox out of a hole, you need to make sure that it is in it. If a fox hides in a hole, then the hunter is waiting not only for her device, which is often quite ingenious (especially when it comes to nesting or centuries-old holes), but also the very system of protective holes that we talked about above. And even taking into account the uncleanliness of foxes, it can be extremely difficult to find a red beast in a pile of shelters scattered throughout its feeding area. In this regard, the experience of Canadian zoologists is interesting, who, when studying foxes in the province of Ontario, at one time used an ingenious way to search for them in its shelters. It consisted of the following: in May-June, in those lands where the existence of a fox was supposed, they laid out the carcasses of freshly harvested woodchucks, having previously placed radio sensors in neutral plastic boxes in their chest cavities. The foxes carried the treat along their burrows, thereby revealing their location to the person. We understand that hunters in the post-Soviet world can hardly afford the luxury of a radio sensor for a fox, so we report this only as a interesting fact- although, perhaps, this information will be useful to someone.

The paradox is that in the presence of quite a large number ways to smoke a fox out of a hole, each of them has both supporters and opponents. Some methods have not passed the test of time, others are not entirely legal, others are good only for certain cases and purposes ... The only thing that all experienced hunters agree on is the opinion that if a fox has gone into a hole, it is almost impossible to drive it out or in last resort very difficult.

The most common solution to the problem is to smoke the fox with the help of a dog. The essence of the method is as follows: quietly and quietly sneak up to the hole, run the dog there and just wait for the result. If the fox cannot figure out the hunter and if the hole is not a dead end, then, escaping from the dog, it will jump out pretty quickly. If you have been calculated, then the struggle will drag on for a long time. However, a number of hunters have recently abandoned this practice, motivating this with a number of weighty arguments. Indeed, fox hunting requires specially trained trained dogs of certain breeds (the so-called “burrow dogs”), and it takes several years to train them, and it is not known how the dog will behave when it finds itself in the same hole with a fox. It is not uncommon for a dog to die after being buried in a hole. Many believe, and not unreasonably, that by launching a dog into a fox hole, they lose control of the situation, and the dog already becomes the master of the situation, and not the hunter, and this is fraught with damage to the skin and a number of other troubles - up to the point that the dog can strangle the fox in a hole and bury it there. Some hunters blame the fact that when hunting with the help of a dog, a lot of time passes in empty expectation while the dog drives the fox out of the hole. There is a lot of debate about which dogs are best suited for such work: hounds and dachshunds are traditionally considered the best, but there are good feedback and about likes. Summing up all the impressions based on the individual experience of each hunter, we can draw the following conclusion: some general recommendations on this occasion it is impossible to give, so you just need to take it and try it, having previously talked with experienced trappers about all the nuances.

If there is no dog, and it is necessary to smoke the fox out of the hole, then the question is put at the forefront, for the sake of which it is necessary to drive the animal out of its shelter. If the goal of the hunter is to extract the skin with its subsequent sale, then you need to carefully consider the choice of smoking method - not all of them are humane in relation to the animal. If we are talking about the extermination of foxes in order to limit their population in a particular area, then, as they say, "in war, all means are good." We do not undertake to analyze and evaluate each of the methods developed over the years, but simply list the main ones, which, although they are often criticized, are quite effective.

So, a fox from a hole can be smoked in the following ways:

  1. with the help of burrow smoke.
  2. pyrotechnics.
  3. metal cable.
  4. with the help of an "artificial ferret".
  5. regular trapping of offspring for two to three years.
  6. water.
  7. using an old diesel tractor (a method invented in the Soviet Union).
  8. traps.

Smoke is perhaps the first thing that comes to mind, despite the fact that this method is severely criticized by some hunters. It consists of the following: it is necessary to close up all the exits in the hole, except for one, and build a fire near it so that the smoke penetrates the hole. Many hunters advise not to plug all the exits, but leave one or two so that the natural draft spreads the smoke throughout the hole. Opinions also differ about what to make a fire on: some say that dry wormwood is best for smoking, others advise using rubber. Sometimes it is advised to use a saltpeter-based smoke bomb instead of a fire. The technology of the method is simple: since the fox is most often located in the lower part of its labyrinth, therefore, any impact on it, not excluding smoke, will lead to the fact that it will run to the exit, where the hunter will be waiting for it. However, opponents of this method argue that in some cases - for example, when the fox is in a state of rutting - the effect of smoke is completely opposite: it will hide even deeper into the hole and prefer to suffocate rather than get out into fresh air. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the fox is more patient than a person and, in case of danger, will definitely outlast him: there were cases when hunters, not having achieved quick success, left the hole, and the fox crawled out alive and healthy on the third or even fifth day.

Some fox hunting enthusiasts advise using ordinary firecrackers. The calculation is based on the noise effect, which increases in a confined space, as a result of which the fox also leaves the shelter that has become unreliable. However, this method is criticized because of its danger - first of all, for the hunter himself: it is no secret that the quality of the pyrotechnics sold often leaves much to be desired, and when buying it for fox hunting, you involuntarily acquire the notorious "pig in a poke".

A metal cable is a more original solution to the problem, although it is also not indisputable. The essence of the method is as follows: one end of the cable is pre-fluffed, the hunter plugs all the exits, leaving only two, and begins, scrolling, to drive this cable with the fluffed end into the hole. Having reached the fox, the cable will definitely hook on its skin, and the animal will unwittingly leave the shelter. This method takes into account the direction of the hole, so many hunters recommend it as the most reliable and effective.

A variation of the method is the use of an "artificial ferret" (or wrapping). True, three people are required to use this method. The cable is a steel wire with a diameter of 3-4 mm., At one end of which there is a handle, and at the other - a rubber toy. One hunter sticks a toy on a wire into the hole, the second turns the handle, and the third stands with a gun at the ready. Sometimes, instead of wire, an ordinary plumbing snake with a steel brush at the end is used. The main thing in all variations is the sufficient length of the cable. But this method is applicable only if the fox hid in a simple hole. For nesting or secular burrows, this method is useless.

Trapping of offspring is used if there is a “fight to the bitter end” with foxes. It is carried out as follows: at the beginning of May, in previously explored nesting burrows, all otnorks are shut up with pipes with gratings at both ends. At one end there is a blind grille, at the other end it is fixed under acute angle along the way, on an axis that lets in only in one direction. If there are not enough pipes, the least located otnorks are clogged tightly with stumps and stones and covered with earth. Chicken giblets are laid out in pipes. In this way, all fox offspring are caught. The method should be applied regularly for several years, then the fox will leave by itself.

Another way from the same arsenal is to fill the hole with water. It is used in the event that it is possible to drive up to the hole. The method is extremely simple: nets are installed on the burrows, a tractor with a barrel of water is driven to the hole, and water is launched through the burrows into the hole. The only nuance that you need to pay attention to is the following: if you need a live fox, then you need to fill the hole from non-working snouts and at first let some water in. After this method, the hole for a long time becomes abandoned.

The use of an old diesel tractor is perhaps one of the most barbaric methods of dealing with foxes, which can only be justified by the huge number of them and the inaction of the regional sanitary services. This method is as follows: the tractor is adjusted to the hole, a hose about five meters long is put on the exhaust pipe and pushed into the hole. The remaining space is sealed with jerseys so that the smoke does not go into the sky. If there is only one entrance to the hole, then the hose must not be sealed very tightly so that the fox can knock out the plug. As soon as smoke comes out of any vent, it must immediately be plugged. The last otnorok can not be closed, but if the fox does not come out for a long time, then they plug it too. Periodically, the tractor driver must do a re-gassing. The essence of the method is that all diesel smoke remains in the hole. From its abundance, the fox becomes insane and eventually comes out in such a state that it is very easy to kill it.

Finally, the last way is to set traps near the hole and visit in three or four days. If the trap is well camouflaged, then the fox will definitely fall into it. However, this method is heavily criticized by those who prefer to hunt with dogs.

There are several other ways to smoke a fox out of a hole, but they are either too exotic (such as using thread from an old woolen sock), or they belong to the arsenal of poachers, so we will not talk about them.

Conclusion

Summing up, we can say the following: it is easier to prevent the fox from going into the hole than to smoke it out later. The fox is a cunning, intelligent and patient animal, and hunting for it requires no less intelligence, cunning, quick wit and patience from a person. The difficulty is also in the fact that for a person there are some generally accepted norms of humanity and hunting ethics, while foxes are completely deprived of this. Therefore, to all those who are annoyed by foxes, or those who hunt them, we can only wish good luck in their hard work.

Titles: common fox (fox), red fox.

Area: The fox is quite widespread and lives almost throughout Europe, Asia, North America, and North Africa. Acclimatized in Australia. Some researchers believe that America has a special related species (V. fulvus), others consider it only as a subspecies of the red fox.

Description: The red fox has a slender, elegant, slightly elongated body on low legs. The common fox is about the size of a small dog, and of its total length, about 40 percent is accounted for by a bushy tail. They have a slender muzzle, with white fur on upper lip, and some individuals have black tear marks. The common fox is larger than other representatives of the genus, but the color and size are large. geographical variability. In general, foxes become larger and brighter towards the north, smaller and duller colored towards the south. There are 14-15 subspecies in Europe, and over 25 subspecies are known for the rest of the range.
Adult foxes begin to molt in February - March (in the north - in March - April) and finally dress in summer fur in the middle of summer. Almost immediately, winter fur begins to develop, maturing during November - December. The fox's summer fur is sparse and short, in which it looks lean, large-headed and even long-legged.

Color: In most cases, the color of the back of the fox is bright red, with an indistinct dark pattern, the belly is white, but sometimes black. Her belly is white, gray or slightly brownish, her chest is light. The coloration of the back and sides changes in different places from bright red to grey.
In northern regions with harsh climatic conditions black-brown and other melanistic forms of coloring are more common. Sivodushki, krestovki, silver foxes are ordinary foxes with deviations from normal coloring. The most beautiful black-brown fur. Such foxes have long been bred on fur farms and are called silver-black.
In nature, there is another type of fox coloring - moth. She has red-orange fur with a fiery sheen. If you shake it, it seems that the flame is swaying. Moths are most often found in Kamchatka, less often in Yakutia and other northeastern regions of Siberia. And quite rarely - in the European part of Russia. And the quality of skins of European moths is much lower than that of the Yakut and Kamchatka ones, which at fur auctions often crowded out their best silver-black relatives. Sometimes pure white albino foxes are born.
The noted diversity of color and size of the fox is associated with the vastness of its range and the great differences in the conditions of existence in its individual parts.

Size: body length 60-90 cm, tail - 40-60 cm, shoulder height: 35-40 cm

Weight: from 6 to 10 kg.

Lifespan: IN wild nature foxes rarely live more than seven years, while in captivity they live up to 20-25 years.

During the rut or in a state of excitement, the fox emits a rather loud, abrupt bark, like a yelp. Fighting or angry animals squeal piercingly. By voices, you can distinguish a male from a female: this is how the female makes a triple “leak” and ends it with a short howl, while the male does not have this howl, but he barks more and more, in the manner of a dog.

Habitat: The fox inhabits all landscape and geographical zones, from the tundra and forests to the steppes and deserts, including mountains. red fox prefers open areas, as well as those areas where there are separate groves, copses, as well as hills and ravines, especially if in winter the snow cover there is not too deep and loose. She avoids only the deaf taiga, snowy regions and deserts, therefore, on the territory of our country, most of the foxes live in the forest-steppes, steppes and foothills of the European and Asian parts.
At the same time, the fox is found not only in the wild, but also in cultural landscapes, including the immediate vicinity of villages and cities, including large ones. industrial centers. Moreover, sometimes in the area mastered by man, the fox finds a particularly favorable environment for himself. So, in some parts of England, they completely mastered vast agricultural lands, along with settlements, and began to "populate" cities, living even in the center of huge London! They live in parks, feed near landfills, make holes under various buildings. Because of their uncleanliness in Birmingham, foxes began to bother people with unsanitary conditions, forcing the city's veterinary service with the help of hunters to catch more than a hundred foxes and take them to remote forests, but it turned out that after a while they began to return to the city to their chosen places.

Enemies: TO natural enemies foxes can be attributed to wolves living in the same territory and some other large predators. Earlier in huge quantities foxes were killed by hunters in order to prevent natural foci of fox rabies. However, the widespread use of the oral vaccine in both North America and Europe has eliminated the need for such drastic measures as mass shooting of foxes.

Food: The fox, although it belongs to typical predators, eats a wide variety of food. Among the food she eats, there are more than 300 species of animals alone, not counting several dozen species of plants. However, all the same, the basis of its nutrition is made up of small rodents, mainly mice and voles, which together make up about three-quarters of their diet. Larger mammals, in particular hares, play an incomparably smaller role, although in some cases foxes catch them. Sometimes foxes attack small cubs of roe deer. Birds in the diet of the fox are not as important as rodents, although the predator will never miss the opportunity to catch any of them on the ground (from the smallest to the largest - geese, capercaillie, etc.), and also destroy the masonry and chicks. In the southern regions of Europe, foxes often prey on reptiles; on Far East living near rivers, they feed salmon fish that died after spawning; in shallow water they catch fish, crayfish, and at the seaside they pick up all kinds of sea emissions: from mollusks to large mammals. IN summer months almost everywhere, foxes willingly eat a lot of beetles and other insects. After rains, it gathers earthworms in abundance. Finally, during the hare pestilence, their corpses and all kinds of carrion are eaten, and in times of famine, various garbage. Vegetable feed- fruits, fruits, berries, less often vegetative parts of plants - are part of the food of almost all foxes. Finding an unharvested soybean field, it feeds on it.
In general, the nature of nutrition and species composition food varies greatly not only in different geographical areas, but also among individuals of adjacent populations inhabiting unequal habitats.

Behavior: Foxes usually hunt at dusk and at night, during the day they can be seen most often in winter and even in summer, when offspring are growing up. At this time, the fox uses burrows, while the rest prefers to rest in an open place - under the eversion, in a ravine, on a haystack. The behavior of old and young foxes is not much different, except that the young ones are more shy and less experienced in the extraction of large game. If there are a lot of mice, then they hunt most often at night and at dawn. Having eaten, at dawn they go to forests, densely overgrown ravines and other secluded places, where they rest all day.
If fields and meadows, rich in mouse-like rodents, are located several kilometers from the forest, then many foxes, especially young ones, lie down for a day in the meadows, choosing for this a small hillock near a lonely standing bush. Before lying down, the redhead dodges a lot, and sometimes makes jumps to the side, striving to jump into the grass or other place where you can’t immediately find her trail. Having reached the place of lying, the fox first sits like a statue, carefully examining the surrounding area. After making sure that there is no danger, and spinning in place, it will curl up and lie down with its nose to the trail, covering its abdomen, legs and even head with its tail. After a while, he will raise his head, listen and look around again. After repeating this operation several times, he finally falls asleep. In the forest, the fox lies down in a clearing, a hillock, and also in such a way that she has an overview.
Her usual manner of movement is a leisurely trot. A calmly walking fox follows a straight line, leaving a clear chain of tracks in the snow. Often the fox takes a step, stops, looking around. Despite the short legs, the fox runs very briskly and quickly leaves the pursuer with big jumps, a gallop, or literally sprawling above the ground and stretching its tail far, which not every dog ​​is able to catch up with it. As for dexterity, she successfully catches bugs flying over her. When hiding prey, it completely merges with the terrain and, as it were, crawls on its belly.