Red Fox
	by Brittany H.

My report is on the Red Fox. The Fox is part of the dog family. You can tell foxes apart from dogs, because they are smaller, and they do more hunting. They follow sound and smell, more than they use their vision , for catching other animals and for talking to other Foxes.

Red fox groups Vulpes, Spp. Have a different species. The different color fur and markings are dependent on where they each live.

Yellowish or buff color, from the desert or plain regions. Deep red color, comes from those living in the woodlands. All of them have black or dark markings on the back of their large pointed ears. Their thick brush is black or white and tipped with a black mark near the base of the tail.

All foxes have a slim muzzle with an excellent sense of smell. They also have black or dark stockings. Red foxes Vulpes. Vulpes are in the Northern Hemisphere.

Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America.

Vulpes Fulva are from the wooded areas and plains country. Hunting is done by twilight and at dawn. Their favorite animals are rabbits and rats and they are the most active at the this times. Mothers that need to feed their babies also hunt in the early morning.

Mothers that need to feed their babies also hunt in the early morning.

How they hunt!

First they hear a rustling in the bushes, and they locate their prey when their ears twitch back and forth.

The fox moves forward and follow the smell to pinpoint. It then pounces on the mice and rats coming from the ground.The foxes pounces and pins down all fours and bites the neck or shakes to kill.

In the spring and summer when food is abundant , they bury it in a hole and stores it for the winter . They find the buried animals by smell or remembering. Foxes mostly like meat, but they can live on 50% vegetables.

They do not mingle with each other during the winter months. In the spring when they mate, the older foxes take the same older foxes and the babies from previous years from new pairs.

The Babies

Female foxes have 4-9 cubs that are helpless at birth. The mother fox does not leave the den for a few days. The male fox brings the food to the den for the mom and babies. Baby foxes open their eyes in 8-9 days.The cubs are inactive for about 5 weeks. The cubs fight and establish rank.

Baby foxes play and run and greet parents with enthusiasm. At 3-4 months they start to learn to be on their own, and the family breaks up in autumn.

My Poem