One can smell when the Red Foxes (Vulpes vulpes fulva) have been around. They urinate to mark where they've traveled. Its kind of a pungent, rancid-smelling odor. . . almost like burnt motor oil.
The one pictured here appears healthier than the one I photographed a few weeks ago.
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Our 700 acre lake remains most dry with puddles here and there. Behind our house there remains perhaps 100 acres of field with very tall weeds (to 8-feet; 2.4 meters), directly behind the house, that provide excellent cover for the foxes and other predators that are living and hunting therein.
This fox might weigh 10-15 pounds (4.5 - 6.8 kg.), is about 2-feet long (61 cm.) and resembles a small dog. The fox is probably not native to Florida except in the northern Panhandle. It has been introduced by hunting clubs, and is now found in many areas of the state. The red fox is normally found in uplands mixed with fields and weedy pastures. Unlike the gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) it avoids heavily wooded areas.
Red Foxes are largely carnivorous. They are solitary hunters and the majority of their diet consists of invertebrates, such as insects, mollusks, earthworms and crayfish. They do also eat some plant material, especially blackberries, apples, plums and other fruit. Common vertebrate prey includes mice, rabbits, birds, eggs, frog, small reptiles, fish, and even worms. They usually hunt alone.
With their acute sense of hearing, they can locate small mammals in thick grass, and they jump high in the air to pounce on the prey. They also stalk prey such as rabbits, keeping hidden until close enough to catch them in a short dash. Foxes tend to be extremely possessive of their food and will not share it with others. If food is plentiful, they may kill more than they immediately need, and cache the extra in the ground.
Breeding takes place in late fall or early winter. A pair usually mates for life. An average of 5 pups are born after a gestation period of about 53 days. At birth the pups are blind, helpless, and brownish-black. They nurse for about two months and stay with their parents for about 6 months. The den site is usually a dug out underground burrow, through they sometimes may enlarge the burrow of gopher tortoise or armadillo. The dens are usually 20-40 feet long and 3-4 deep, with multiple entrances.
Presumably we have a pair nesting in the dry lakebed. Its always exciting to see one of them. It was hard to see what this fox was pouncing on. When they see me or hear the camera shutter they run away, quickly.
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