What group of animals does the fox belong to? Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)Red fox (eng.)

Elizaveta Patrikeevna, fox Alice, little fox-sister... This cunning beast is called affectionately in folk tales. Today in our article - the animal fox, description, photo and video about this amazing red forest inhabitant.

Red fox (common fox)

The fox is the main character in many fairy tales; she is always described as a cunning thief, with a beautiful “fur coat” and a fluffy tail. Why is the fox called cunning? Is she really like this, or only in fairy tales?

The red fox belongs to the Canine family. She has pointed ears and an elongated muzzle. This animal also has unusually beautiful long-haired fur and a long fluffy tail, which serves as a “blanket” for the front paws and nose while the fox is resting.

The size of this animal is medium: the body length is no more than 90 centimeters, and the tail is from 40 to 60 cm. The animal weighs from 6 to 10 kilograms. The age to which a fox lives in conditions wildlife, is equal to no more than 7 years.

The red fox has a colored tip of its tail. White color, and the paws have black spots.

In nature common fox meet different colors wool, but on farms where foxes are bred, there are representatives of platinum color and silver-black. Such rare colors are valued among hunters, so if a fox that has escaped from a fur farm comes into the hunter’s field of vision, he will not stop until he catches it.

Red fox habitats

This species of fox lives on almost the entire planet, except, perhaps, arctic tundra and islands. Red fox can be found throughout the Eurasian continent, in North America, Northern part African continent and even in Australia.

Foxes are excellent swimmers. By the way, they can even dive shallowly when hunting for fish.

What does the red fox eat?

The fox is a predatory animal, so a variety of small animals can end up on its dinner table. Basically, these are rodents. Foxes also eat birds, fish (on spawning rivers), carrion, insects and berries.

The fox's hunting methods are very interesting; it can adapt to the habits of any animal that it has its eye on as food. For example, she can push a hedgehog straight into the water so that it turns around and can be grabbed by its abdomen, which has no needles. When the hunt is on wild geese, then the foxes prefer to act in pairs: one distracts the pack, while the other sneaks up and attacks the prey in one jump. And she easily digs rodents out from under the snow, finding a place by sound. After all, it’s not for nothing that foxes are known as cunning animals - what kind of ways do they come up with to get food for themselves!

The fox “mouses” - hunts for a mouse under thick snow

Hunting takes place around the clock, although the most successful time is twilight.

In general, the fox can be called an omnivore. Its “menu” includes almost 400 species of various animals and dozens of types of plant foods. Scientists have concluded that the number of rodents (especially field mice) directly affects the population of red foxes, since mice are the main food of foxes.

Listen to the fox's voice

Many people know foxes as kidnappers poultry. Very often, a fox sneaks into the chickens' roosting area and steals them. Although birds are not considered the main food of the red fox, the animal often eats them. In addition to chickens, the fox loves the meat of wood grouse, geese and other birds.

Foxes living in deserts have to be content with the meat of reptiles. If there is one nearby shallow river with fish, then the fox will certainly come there to feast on, for example, salmon. IN summer months the animal eats beetles and other insects.

Plant food foxes are of little interest, but in the absence of meat food, the fox will be happy with fruits and berries, as well as any greenery.

Reproduction and offspring

The period for the birth of puppies (as fox cubs are called) is mainly considered to be mid-spring. To breed, foxes dig a deep hole, but sometimes they can occupy someone else’s. Typically, one female gives birth to four to six cubs. Pregnancy lasts from 44 to 58 days. After birth, the mother feeds the offspring with milk for about 1.5 months. When the cubs turn 2 years old, they become fully grown individuals. Mature fox cubs are fed with live prey, and the fox cubs kill the “food” themselves.

Common fox or fox - is so widespread in Russia that the animal itself and its tracks can be seen by any hunter, no matter in what area of ​​the country he hunts. Foxes can be found from our westernmost borders to the eastern ones (Chukotka, Kamchatka and the Kuril Islands) and from the Arctic coasts to the very south. These predators are absent only on some Arctic islands and archipelagos and in the most severe coastal areas of the Arctic.

• Habitat biotope. Forests interspersed with open spaces.
• What does it eat? Mouse-like rodents, small birds, hares, large insects, various fruits, berries, catches upland game birds, picks up carrion and food waste (in winter), on the coast - sea emissions.
• Ecology of the species. The sedentary lives - a plot of 10-35 square meters. km. Activity is twilight and nocturnal. Digs holes (1-3 entrances, the underground passage is weakly branched) or occupies badgers. There is a lot of feces and remains of prey around the burrows. During the rutting season in February-March, hoarse barks and prolonged howls of females are heard at night; males yelp more abruptly and frequently, without howling. The number of puppies in a litter is up to 10 (usually 4-5). Both parents take part in raising the brood. The number varies sharply from year to year, the reasons being fluctuations in the number of small rodents.

Living on such huge territory, in different climatic conditions and completely different landscape and geographical zones, noticeably affected not only the size and color of local foxes, but also affected their habits. Even the tracks of foxes from regions distant from each other can differ markedly.

The fox is the size of a small dog. Its body length is 60–90 cm, tail 40–60 cm, body weight 6–10 kg. Most large individuals can exceed the value of small ones by 1.5 times. The largest foxes are found in northern regions a habitat. There they also have the brightest red color. The chest, belly and end of the tail are white. The legs and back of the ears are black. In the north, black-brown foxes with melanistic color variations are also more common, which are very different from artificially bred silver-black foxes. And the paw prints of foxes from the northern regions are noticeably larger than those of small and dull-colored foxes southern steppes and semi-deserts.

During the breeding season, foxes live in permanent burrows dug by themselves, or use the burrows of badgers, and in the south, marmots or other animals.

In winter, the animals live alone, during the day they rest somewhere in the weeds, reed thickets, dense plantings, or climbing on a pile of rotten brushwood or a haystack. By spring, they often settle on sunlit edges. They are most active in the morning and evening hours. But sometimes hunting foxes can be seen during the day.

Fox on the hunt

Having left the bed, the fox sets off at a small trot to hunt for food. In years when the number of rodents is high, the main source of food for foxes is voles, especially voles. Then the chain of fox tracks will almost certainly lead us to the fields where the animal goes out to hunt mice - to mouse. If you're lucky, you can catch the predator itself on the spot and follow the entire hunting process.

A fox walks lightly across a snow-covered field, ears pricked up and nose pointing to the wind. All senses are tense. The wet nose often drops down, trying to catch the alluring smell, the ears listen to every sound.

Sometimes the animal sits down on the snow, continuing to sniff and listen, then gets up and continues on its way. But a sensitive ear caught a barely audible squeak, and maybe a rustle. The fox stops, then quietly steps forward and freezes motionless. And here's the jump. Having shot up, she lowers her paws and nose to one point, from where she caught a rustle. The caught vole is immediately swallowed, and the hunt continues.

If there are few rodents, the fox often goes hungry and wanders a lot in search of food. He often approaches roadways, where he collects various scraps or rummages through village backyards.

It happens that, having found the old dried remains of someone's prey, the fox does not eat them, but either rolls on the bones or marks them in his own way, leaving a pile of droppings on top.

Using urinary marks, it is easy to distinguish the footprint of a fox from the tracks of a female fox. When satisfying their natural needs, foxes do the same. How .

The fox finds carrion not only by smell. She is often helped in this by birds - magpies, crows, jays, which usually detect a fallen animal before anyone else and attract predators with their cry. The benefits are mutual. Birds are unable to peck the skin large animal, and the predators themselves will eat and give the birds access to meat.

In more remote places, where there are many hares, boar and other game, the fox sometimes manages to catch a hare or hazel grouse or black grouse sleeping under the snow. However, more often they retrieve shot hares than catch them themselves. Having caught a hare, it usually does not eat it entirely. He always starts with the head and eats about half, leaving the back part as a reserve.

Fox tracks

a - front paw of a fox, b - hind paw of a fox

Foxes, like the vast majority of animals of the canine family, have 5 toes on their front paw (African hyena dogs have 4 toes on their front and hind paws), but the 1st toe (it is located with inside paws) is located high, and is not visible on the tracks. The prints of both fox paws are four-toed.

A fox footprint is similar to a small dog's paw print, but is more elongated and slender. The impressions of the crumbs of the lateral fingers are moved further back, and often an almost even line or a match can be drawn between their anterior edges and the posterior edges of the two middle fingers. Often this feature of fox paw prints is cited as the main feature of the difference between fox tracks and dog tracks, the lateral toes of which protrude quite far beyond the rear edges of the front toes.

However, in practice, especially in winter time When the soles of foxes are overgrown with fur and the contours of the toe pads on the tracks are less clearly visible, this sign is not very clearly expressed, and it is not always possible to fit the notorious match between the front and rear toes. If in doubt, follow the trail of tracks. If not immediately, then pretty soon the fox will switch to its usual gait and its tracks will stretch in an even chain - no dog walks like that.

The print of the fox's front paw looks somewhat larger than the print of the back paw due to its greater width. The size of the prints of the front paws of foxes from the central regions of Russia is (6.5–7.5) x (4.6–5.7), and the size of the hind paws is (6.5–7.0) x (4.0–4.8) ) cm. Located behind the fingers, the metacarpal soft tissue (“heel”) looks like an inverted heart. It is narrowed in front and widened below. Moreover, its outer lower edge seems to be pulled back more, which often helps to distinguish right-handed prints from left-handed ones. The posterior edge of this crumb is noticeably concave. The hind paw also leaves a four-toed imprint. Compared to the front one, it looks narrower and slimmer. The metatarsal soft of the hind paw is more rounded at the back and does not have a crescent-shaped notch. The side toes are usually set back a little more than on the front feet. The claws are usually slightly shorter than those on the front paws.

Fox movement

While trailing foxes, it is easy to notice that the same animal changes its gait depending on the circumstances.

Small step. Often used in search traffic. With this gait, the hind paw, getting into the print of the front paw, does not completely cover it. The lower trace turns out to be undercovered by about a third. Step length is about 31 cm or less.

Small lynx- the most common move of a fox, while hind legs They exactly fall into the tracks of those in front and the result is a covered track - the animal seems to be following a thread. The prints stretch in an even chain, only barely shifting the centers of the right prints to the right of midline, and left to the left. The length of steps is 20–40 cm, most often about 30 cm.

The fox is probably doing a small trot most ways. With this gait, the tracks of foxes are unmistakably different from the tracks of dogs, which never move so smoothly. But when going out into the field to hunt, they also often lead an even chain. True, the tracks of cats are smaller and rounder, and the step is shorter.

Moving trot, the fox leaves paired prints at long intervals: prints of the hind paws slightly in front, prints of the front paws slightly to the side and behind. Moreover, in different animals or in different time Hind paw prints can be located on either one side or the other. Step length 42–53 cm.

Disturbed animal runs away gallop, and in some cases it can switch to the fastest gait - career. An animal running at a gallop leaves four-bead marks, where each paw is imprinted separately, but quite close to one another. The hind legs are located in front of the front legs and are spaced more widely. Often one of the front paws is located much behind the others, as if lagging behind them. The length of the animal's jumps is 145–150 cm, the width of the track is about 12 cm.

The faster the animal runs, the more extended each group of tracks is and the longer the distance between subsequent groups of prints. Individual jumps of a quarrying fox can exceed 3 m.

c - step (straight line, the hind paw hits the print of the front paw): d - small trot (the print of the hind paw partially covers the print of the front paw); d - wider trot (the prints of the hind and front paws are located separately, but close to each other; the print of the hind paw is often located in front of the print of the front paw); e - gallop; f - quarry (target)

Ordinary, or red fox - carnivorous mammal the canine family, the most widespread and most close-up view kind of foxes. Appearance The color and size of foxes vary in different areas; in total there are 40-50 subspecies, not taking into account smaller forms. In general, as you move north, foxes become larger and lighter in color, and as you move south, they become smaller and duller in color. In the northern regions and in the mountains, black-brown and other melanistic forms of fox coloration are also more common. Most common color: bright red back, white belly, dark paws. Often foxes have brown stripes on the ridge and shoulder blade, similar to a cross. Are common distinctive features: dark ears and white tip of the tail. Externally, the fox is a medium-sized animal with a graceful body on low paws, an elongated muzzle, pointed ears and a long fluffy tail. Molting begins in February-March and ends in mid-summer. Immediately after this, the fox begins to grow winter fur, in which it is completely dressed by the turn of November and December. Summer fur is much thinner and shorter, winter fur is thicker and more lush. Foxes are distinguished by their large locator ears, with the help of which they pick up sound vibrations. Ears for foxes are the “catcher” of prey. The red fox's vocalization is the same "oo-oo-oo" as a wolf's, only lower.

Nutrition The fox, although it belongs to typical predators, feeds on a very diverse diet. Among the food it eats, more than 400 species of animals alone have been identified, not counting several dozen species of plants. Everywhere, the basis of its diet consists of small rodents, mainly voles. One can even say that the state of the population of this predator largely depends on the sufficiency of their number and availability. This especially applies to the winter period, when the fox lives primarily by hunting field mice: the animal, sensing a rodent under the snow cover, listens to its squeak, and then fast jumps dives under the snow, or scatters it with its paws, trying to catch prey. This method of hunting is called mouseing. More large mammals, in particular hares, play a much smaller role in nutrition, although in some cases foxes purposefully catch them (especially hares), and during a hare pestilence they can also eat corpses. Sometimes big foxes can attack roe deer cubs. Birds in the fox's diet are not as important as rodents, although this predator will never miss an opportunity to catch a bird that ends up on the ground (from the smallest to the largest, such as geese and wood grouse), as well as to destroy a clutch of eggs or flightless chicks. The fox can also kidnap domestic birds, but, according to the observations of zoologists, it does this much less often than is commonly believed. In deserts and semi-deserts, foxes often hunt for reptiles. In Canada and northeastern Eurasia, foxes that live along big rivers, eat seasonally almost 100% salmon fish, which died after spawning. Almost everywhere in the summer, foxes eat a lot of beetles and other insects. After all, they willingly use carrion for food, especially during periods of hunger. Plant food- fruits, fruits, berries, less often vegetative parts of plants - are part of the diet of foxes almost everywhere, but most of all in the south of the range; however, they don’t play anywhere key role in the food supply of representatives of this species.

Reproduction Like the wolf, the fox is a monogamous animal that breeds only once a year. The time of the rut and its effectiveness depend on the weather and the fatness of the animals. There are years when up to 60% of females are left without offspring. Even in winter, foxes begin searching for places to breed their young, and jealously guard them. There are practically no ownerless holes at this time; in the event of the death of one female, her home is immediately occupied by another. A female is often courted by two or three males, and bloody fights occur between them. Foxes - good parents. Males take an active part in raising their offspring, and also take care of their friends even before the cubs appear. They improve the burrows and even catch fleas from females. If the father dies, another single male takes his place; sometimes the foxes even fight among themselves for the right to become a stepfather. Pregnancy in foxes lasts 49-58 days. The litter contains from 4-6 to 12-13 puppies, covered with dark brown hair. Outwardly, they resemble wolf cubs, but differ in the white tip of the tail. At two weeks of age, fox cubs begin to see and hear, and their first teeth erupt. Both parents take part in raising fox cubs. The father and mother show extreme caution at this time, and if there is a threat, they will immediately transfer the cubs to a spare hole. They are also forced to hunt around the clock to feed their offspring. Growing puppies begin to leave their “home” early and are often found far from it, while still very small. For a month and a half, the mother feeds the foxes milk; in addition, parents gradually accustom their cubs to regular food, as well as to obtaining it. Soon, the grown-up fox cubs begin to go hunting with their father and mother, playing with each other, pestering their elders, and sometimes endangering the entire family. From the time of the rut to the final exit of the fox cubs, about 6 months pass. By autumn, the fox cubs are fully grown and can live independently. Males go 20-40 kilometers, females - 10-15, rarely 30 kilometers, looking for a site and a mate. Some females are already next year They begin to reproduce, or at least reach sexual maturity at the age of two. The fox weighs 5-8 kg. Behavior

A fox, moving calmly, walks in a straight line, leaving behind a clear chain of tracks. A frightened animal can run very quickly, at a gallop, or literally spread out over the ground, with its tail fully extended. Among the fox's senses, the most developed are smell and hearing; vision is much less developed - therefore, for example, a fox can come very close to someone sitting motionless or standing man from the windy side. During the rut and simply in a state of excitement, the fox emits a sharp, loud bark; foxes squeal piercingly when they fight. The female and male differ in their voices: the female makes a triple “bark” ending in a short howl, the male barks like a dog, without howling. Many foxes, especially young ones, lie down for the day in a field if it is located near a forest and is rich in rodents. Before settling down under a bush or hillock, the fox, frozen in place, examines the surroundings for a long time for danger. Then he curls up, covering his nose and paws with his tail, but before falling asleep, he looks around the area several more times. Foxes also like to rest in dense thickets, ravines and other hard-to-reach places. Foxes hunt at different times of the day, however, preferring early morning and late evening, and where they are not pursued, they meet during the day, and without showing any anxiety when meeting a person. Otherwise, these animals are extremely cautious and amazing ability to hide and throw off the chase - this is why in the folklore of many peoples the fox is the embodiment of cunning and dexterity (the Japanese spirit is the werewolf Kitsune, the European spirit is Verfuchs). Foxes living near hiking trails, boarding houses, and in places where hunting is prohibited quickly get used to the presence of humans, are easy to feed and can beg. It is assumed that foxes have a sense of magnetic fields.

Silver-black

There are two known breeds of foxes that determine the color of the Silver-black and Black-brown foxes. The first arose among wild foxes in Canada, the second - in foxes in Eurasia and Alaska. Therefore in foreign literature Silver foxes are often called Alaskan Silverbacks.

Shades of Silver-Black Fox are classified as "very light", "medium-light", "light", "medium", "medium-dark", "dark", "very dark". However, no matter how dark or light the color, most often the ears, tail, muzzle, abdomen and paws will always be pure black.

Depending on the area of ​​the body occupied by silver hair, the percentage of silver is determined: silver located from the root of the tail to the ears is taken as 100% (the ears, paws, abdomen, tail and muzzle are usually completely black); for 75% - from the root of the tail to the shoulder blades; for 50% - from the root of the tail to half the body. The area of ​​the body occupied by silver can be any (10%, 30%, 80%), but always begins at the root of the tail.

Hair in which only the top is colored is called platinum (in contrast to silver hair, in which the central part is colored). Availability large quantity platinum hair in the pubescence of foxes is undesirable. They are more susceptible to shaft breakage than silver ones, which leads to the development of a pubescence defect - sectioning. The black ends of the hair form a veil over the silver area.

As we have already found out, there are 5 types of “silver”: Standard (AA bb), Non-standard/Sub-standard (Aa bb), Alaskan (aa BB), Sub-Alaskan (aa Bb), Double silver (aa bb). What's the difference?
Standard Silver-black was bred in Canada and later, during selection, more silver was injected into it. The Standard Silver is smaller than the Alaskan, the fur is silkier, the black color is rich and uniform.
Sub-standard Silver-black. Mixed Standard Silver-Black and Alaskan. Outwardly, it is almost no different from the Standard one.
Double silver- a cross between Standard and Sub-standard Silver.
Alaskan Silver-black. Before breeding work, Alaskan Silver was distinguished by a more faded, brownish shade of black. Today, it is almost impossible to distinguish the Standard Silver from the Alaskan, although it is believed that the Alaskan Silver still has brown tints, which makes the Standard Silver-black much more attractive in terms of fur quality.
Sub-Alaskan Silver-black- Alaskan Silver mixed with Double Silver. The quality of the fur is more similar to the Alaskan Silver-black.
Black. Pure black foxes are rare and rather silver-black ones with big amount"silver". Its quantity depends only on the influence of the genes responsible for it.

When crossing Silver-black or Black-brown foxes with red ones, the inheritance of color is intermediate - the offspring varies appearance different from both parents. But the color can vary significantly: crabs (crosses), bastards and “smears” can be obtained.

SIVADUSHKA (KRESVKA)
Sivadushkas are characterized by a significantly greater development of black pigment than red foxes. They have a dark muzzle, with the exception of red spots near the ears; a dark stripe runs between the ears and down to the back and shoulder blades. Red spots remain around the ears, on the neck, behind the shoulder blades, resulting in the formation of a more or less pronounced dark cross on the shoulders. The black color sometimes extends to the abdomen. On the rump dark color descends to the hind legs, but the areas at the root of the tail remain red. Chest, belly, legs dark. All, even very dark, Sivadushkas have red hair on their backs in addition to black, which distinguishes them from Black-browns with highly developed red spotting.

COMMON CROSSING
Color category - natural color
Responsible factor: Silver-black + Red / Silver-black + Silver-black with fire gene / Red + Red with silver gene (or any other combination with the AaBb gene)
Nose black/dark brown. Eyes - yellow, hazel, brown or red (orange). The shade may be lighter/darker. The red/brown areas may be intense or rather faded.
The color is used to breed other colors, as it contains both the red and silver genes.

SMOKKY (BASTARD)
Bastards are similar in color to Red Foxes, but always have black spots on both sides. upper lip("mustache"). The black coloring on the paws is much more developed and extends on the front paws to the elbow, and on the hind paws - along the front surface of the leg to knee joint. A significant amount of black hair is scattered over the entire surface of the body and especially on the tail, which gives the color a thicker tone. The abdomen is gray or black. Eyes can be any color except blue and pink.
Color category - natural color. The responsible factor is: Red with a Silver gene (Basta"rd). (It is believed that this is a cross between a Red and Silver-black fox, but this has not been proven. So it is Red with a Silver gene.) Morphology (General): reach 20 kg. , length about 125 cm, height at the withers about 40 cm. Tail up to 70% of the total body length.
Wild foxes living in Europe, namely in the Western European part, are predominantly of this color.

At birth, Sivadushki and Bastards have the same coloring: they are dark gray, like black fox pups, and have only small brown areas near the ears and on the body behind the front legs. Red foxes also have gray pups, but the brown color covers the entire upper part of the head. Subsequently, the bastards, earlier than the gray ones, replace their gray hair with red hair. In red fox puppies, the change from gray to red hair is most intense.

"ZAMARAYKA"
The term of Kamchatka hunters. Widely distributed in Kamchatka, in those areas where black and brown foxes are found. "Zamarayki" have a great resemblance to bastards.

All of the listed varieties are very similar and at birth it is almost impossible to determine what color the adult fox will be. This becomes clear when the little fox sheds its baby fluff and begins to grow up.

div align="justify">Fox is the name of a separate class of mammals that belongs to the canine family.

The common fox is the most common representative. This animal is one of the main characters folk tales, folklore.

Habitat

Common fox lives in many latitudes of our planet: most of the territory of Europe; Africa (its northern part); Asia; North America. This type is common in many climatic latitudes, with the exception of areas of humid equatorial climate.

Appearance

The classic color of a fox is a bright red back with a white belly; there are also black varieties. The color of the belly is: white; gray; sometimes brownish.

Fox in winter forest photo

In regions with more severe climatic conditions, you can find representatives of a black-brown hue, as well as other similar tones. There are varieties of foxes whose color differs from the traditional one, these include: silver fox; crosses; sivodushki.

harmony. fox with fox photo

The fox has a short body, short legs and a bushy tail. The head has an oblong muzzle, pointed ears. Body length 55 - 90 cm, tail length 40 - 60 cm, animal weight 4 - 9 kg.

Lifestyle

Foxes live in burrows, digging them out on their own, or settling in the empty homes of badgers, arctic foxes and other burrow inhabitants. They mainly live on mountain slopes, preferring areas with sandy soils that are safe from rain and melt water.

Often chanterelles choose permanent places habitat for breeding and raising offspring, during other periods of the year they rest on open lawns, on snow or on grass. In case of approaching danger, foxes can quickly hide in some hole and protect their offspring.

Nutrition

The fox, along with wolves, is typical predator, which feeds primarily on small animals, as well as dozens of plant species. Their potential victims include all kinds of small rodents: water rats; hamsters; muskrat; field mice.

I'll catch up anyway. fox hunting photo

Especially in winter period Foxes can hear small voles well under the cover of snow and quietly and sharply pounce on them. In warmer latitudes (deserts, etc.), there is active hunting for all kinds of reptiles. In regions near river reservoirs, chanterelles feed on salmon that died after spawning. They also feed on many insects (larvae, beetles). Causes a lot of damage agriculture, eating oats and chickens.

Reproduction

Foxes are excellent parents. Unlike other animal species, they are monogamous, that is, they reproduce once a year. Dependence of weather and climatic conditions and the size of animals, influence the effectiveness of the offspring.

Males participate in raising their firstborns, set up their burrows and care for females. Foxes bear cubs within 50-60 days. Often 3-5 fox cubs are born. At a young age, they closely resemble wolf cubs. About 6 months pass from the moment of birth, after which the cubs can already walk and actively enjoy life.