Foxes
There is actually quite a bit of activity going on in Maine in the bleak midwinter. Bears typically have their cubs (See ‘Lugnut’ and her twin cubs, born 1/16/2012, at http://www.wildliferesearch.org); honeybees are starting a new generation of workers, and foxes have romance on their minds and are marking their territories. We only have the Red Fox here in the Quoddy region and there has been some debate as to whether or not these critters are native or were introduced by the early European settlers. Our Red fox was long recognized as a separate species Vulpes fulva, but it is now deemed the same clever animal of European folklore V. vulpes. Even though some of these animals had been brought over from Europe, the early explorers noted Red foxes and the trade with Native Americans included the furs of the Red fox. Martin Pring, searching for furs and anything of value to trade in 1603, noted Red foxes in the openings along the coast of Maine and especially on the islands. He even named one of the islands ‘Fox Island’, which is now known as Vinalhaven. I checked with Kirk Gentalen, the only naturalist that I know on Vinalhaven, and he wrote that he saw a Red fox there about 7 years ago, but hasn’t seen any signs since. I haven’t seen a fox on our property for many years, even though I encourage native predators, and there is a Fox Island off our shore in Cobscook Bay. I have seen foxes in the town of Pembroke, but I have never gotten a good picture of one.
The Red fox has the widest range of any terrestrial carnivore, and, with over 50 recognized subspecies, it is found on most continents except South America, Antarctica and most of Africa. It may be seen in many colors; including black, gray and silver, but it always has a white-tipped tail. The Red fox has a keen sense of smell and acute senses of hearing and sight. Interestingly, the ears of the Red fox are most sensitive to sounds of about 3.5 kHz; much lower than other predators. It is thought that this sound is more in the range of small rodents gnawing or rustling in the grass or leaves. The eyes of Red foxes are also unusual, being of yellow color with vertical pupils, more like a cat and not much like other canids. Foxes are of the same family as wolves and coyotes but they separated into their own genus about 10 million years ago, so although there have been reports of coyote, wolf, or dog/fox hybrids there have been no hybrids that have stood up to scientific scrutiny.
Red foxes are not very big, and average about 10 pounds. They are pretty immune to the cold weather, and seldom seek shelter for a nap in the most severe blizzard. They just curl up where they feel the safest from predators. The biggest predators around here are trappers and automobiles, even though coyotes will prey on foxes. It’s sort of interesting that there is a strong dislike among members of the canid family. Many years ago I was hunting gray squirrels in Massachusetts, and I had a couple of farm pooches that every once in a while would be helpful in my sport. This time they ran off, and shortly after I heard them barking. The barking was different; there was a distinct hatred conveyed by my normally pretty docile mutts, and I found that they had cornered a Red fox in a bank. I wasn’t after fox, and it was with some difficulty that I got them out of there and back home, because squirrel hunting was done for the day.
Red foxes are clever and considered a challenge to trap. From the data that I have, in the past 10 years the number harvested annually in Maine has ranged from about a 1000 to 2000. The pelts may average about $20, but some exotic silver or platinum colored morphs have in the past brought well over $1,000 each. I hope some plain old Red fox doesn’t get harvested because he rolled around in my wood ash pile. Nah. They’re too smart for that.
