Red Fox

The red fox is a versatile medium-sized canid known for sharp hearing, adaptable diet, and success in habitats ranging from remote countryside to cities.

• Uses acute hearing to pinpoint prey under vegetation or snow
• Adjusts diet quickly from rodents to fruit, carrion, and insects
• Travels regular routes between cover, resting sites, and feeding patches

Red Foxes are often crepuscular or nocturnal, moving at dusk, night, and dawn when edges are quieter.

Habitat: Farmland, woodland edge, suburban green space, steppe, moor, and open country with cover.

Native range: Widespread across North America, Europe, Asia, and introduced in Australia.

Rodents, rabbits, birds, eggs, insects, fruit, carrion, and scraps.

Red Foxes are often crepuscular or nocturnal, moving at dusk, night, and dawn when edges are quieter.

Wild red foxes often live only a few years, though they can live longer in protected conditions. That short, risky life rewards fast learning and flexible decisions.

Females give birth to kits in dens, and both parents or helpers may provide food in some situations.

Males, called dogs, average slightly larger and heavier than vixens and have broader heads, but coat colour does not differ between the sexes and they are hard to tell apart in the field. A nursing vixen in spring often looks thin with a patchy belly coat.

Rarity: Relatively common · 20/100. Red foxes remain common across huge areas because they exploit varied prey and human-altered landscapes effectively.

• Observe quietly at dawn or dusk instead of approaching den sites.
• Do not feed urban foxes, which pushes them into risky human dependence.