Gracie explodes out of our back door onto the dimly-lit deck. Squirrels scramble up trees, fly across railings, dive down the deck stairs. Gracie barks and snaps after them, dry leaves flying behind her as one fugitive squirrel escapes through cedar pickets. Leaves crash. Squeals pierce the morning air. A flash of red carries its prisoner through bare trees toward the ravine. Our dog Gracie has helped her cousin the red fox catch its breakfast.
Foxes, true omnivores, eat whatever is available: small mammals, birds, insects, reptiles, fish, fruits and other plant foods. Excellent sight, hearing and sense of smell enable them to search for food at any opportunity, but foxes prefer to hunt at dawn and dusk when their prey is most active.
Customized hunting techniques fit specific prey and situations. Foxes casually browse to snap up insects. Using keen hearing, light body weight and long hind legs, foxes employ the “mousing leap” to accurately pin burrowing rodents. For animals that evade capture by running, a fox will crouch low to the ground, slowly stalking its quarry in cat-like fashion.
Foxes will sometimes “charm” their victims with highly-visible, playful antics. As the curious prey comes closer to investigate, the fox immediately pounces. A fox will also play dead to ambush vultures that come to feed on it. Such cleverness is the stuff that has inspired myth and legend.
In November, the normally solitary red fox begins to socialize and find prospective mates for the January mating season. At this time foxes may hunt co-operatively, one fox chasing prey toward another. Or…. perhaps a little white terrier could help a hungry fox hiding just beyond the fence line???
