Our foxy neighbors - reds and grays inhabit nearby fields and woods
Published: Saturday, August 14, 2010
This is a tale of two foxes: the one I saw and the one I didn't. I love catching a glimpse of wild carnivores, and it happens often in Connecticut. We are lucky. Our area is heavily populated and has been for hundreds of years, but wildlife keeps adapting to live around us.
Last week, I saw a fox, but it wasn't the one I expected. Both red and gray foxes make their homes here. Except for color, the two seem so similar it seems they would compete for food and territory. One species would eventually win and drive the other out. They eat roughly the same thing: any animals smaller than themselves, plus fruits and the odd scavengings. But these two native species don't compete. Red foxes hunt in open forest, meadows and fields. Gray foxes keep to dense woodlands. Reds hunt in broad daylight. Grays are active from late afternoons through the night. And, finally, red foxes hunt on the ground. Gray foxes climb trees, jumping from branch to branch while hunting, or for protection.
These are little predators, about the size of a small beagle, but slender. They are preyed on by owls, bobcats, hawks, coyotes and humans who hunt them for their fur. More than 500,000 are trapped each year. They take from us, too — killing chickens and ducks, rabbits and free-roaming cats. Like any mammal, foxes can carry rabies, though raccoons and skunks are more often carriers in Connecticut.
The settlers found both gray and red foxes here when they arrived. In the 1750s, they brought in European red fox so they could have hunting parties just like in "jolly old England." This species happily interbred with our native red fox. What we have now is a hybrid (mix) of both types of red fox.
Connecticut was practically treeless by the mid-1700s. This was a farming state, much like Iowa is today. Instead of the native forests, fields and pastures covered the land. They were edged with stone walls where rows of trees and hedges could grow. This is perfect habitat for red foxes, and they dominated the state. In the 1800s, farming shifted westward to states where the soils were easier to work. Our woodlands slowly came back. So did the gray foxes.
That was who trotted into my life this week. It was midafternoon, not a gray fox time. And he crossed from subdivision to subdivision, not deep woods to deeper. Further, his salt and pepper coat lay thick; his tail floated frothy and full behind him. I would have expected a red fox in that area and, after the heat of this summer and the rigors of family life, most mammals are looking threadbare by now.
Foxes live near you, too, hunting or just wandering where you may catch a sighting. Our two species are easy to tell apart. While both have a pointed nose, the gray's is shorter and more cat-like. He is also built heavier and has shorter legs than the red. A gray's coat is mostly grizzled with reddish brown fur on his sides. His tail ends in black. Red foxes are flaming redheads. Their tails have a white flag at the end.
By August, all fox families are beginning to break up. Their parents, empty-nesters now, are free to roam their territories again. There are plenty of young adults out there, too, exploring their world — and ours.
Contact Guilford naturalist Kathleen Kudlinski at kathkud@aol.com, or write her in care of the Register, 40 Sargent Drive, New Haven 06511. She is the author of 39 children's books, including "Boy Were We Wrong About the Solar System!"
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