The fox is a very beautiful predator with a long fluffy tail. Her muzzle is long and narrow, and her eyes are very cunning. In size, this predator resembles a dog. The color of the fox varies from fiery red to gray. It is gray-yellow in the steppe, and almost red in the north. Silver fox is an ordinary fox with slight deviations from the usual color. The fur of these animals is considered the most beautiful, so they have long been bred on farms.
Where does this predatory beast live? The fox lives in Asia, America, Europe and even in Africa. She perfectly adapts to various conditions. A fox is a cunning animal. She can go on various tricks to get food for herself.
Diet predator
What does a fox eat? Although she is a predator, her diet includes a variety of foods. Of course, meat is the basis of its nutrition.
Note that the food list of this animal includes more than 350 variants of small mammals, various rodents (especially from the family of field voles) and birds.
Winter diet of foxes
What does a fox eat in winter and how does it catch its prey? According to research by experts, the largest population of foxes lives where there are a large number of voles. Such rodents are the most affordable type of food for them, especially in the winter season, when it is most difficult to get food.
Hunting foxes in field mice is a very interesting process. Fox quietly moves through the snow, listening to the squeak of his potential victim. Smelling the rodent and calculating its location, he quickly dives into the snow with his nose, helping his paws to get to the prey.
The main role in this matter is given to the factor of surprise, because the mouse, despite its excellent hearing, can not always foresee that a fox will appear, as a result of which it does not have time to hide from the teeth of a predator.
Recently, zoologists have come up with a term that characterizes this process - mouse.
In winter, a fox in a forest bypasses forest plantations in search of dead birds, the shore of water bodies, and it does not disdain waste and carrion.
In the natural environment, the basis of fox nutrition is hares, the aforementioned mice, and other small rodents. In addition, this predator with great pleasure regales on the bird. Avoiding the teeth and claws of foxes helps their ability to fly. In danger are eggs and chicks who have not yet learned how to fly, like their parents.
Both small and large birds, for example, capercaillie or wild goose, can become prey of a fox. The main assistant to the predator in search of food is its sensitive nose, which smells of a rodent or other prey at sufficiently great distances.
Some foxes, despite the fact that they are afraid of human habitats (villages, etc.), still decide to visit chicken coops in the settlements located near the forest. At night or late in the evening they penetrate the barn, grab, for example, a chicken by the throat and swiftly carry it into the forest.
Of course, predators rarely decide on such a dangerous maneuver, as a rule, this happens in the winter, when it is very difficult to get food.
What does a fox eat in the forest? Hares. These animals occupy an important place in the diet of the fox. Of course, the easiest prey is rabbits, who have not yet learned to develop sufficient speed in an attempt to escape from a predatory beast. A fox, having discovered a cleft hole, can immediately destroy the entire litter.
These predators do not disdain the corpses of rodents in the case of a hare pestilence. Some representatives are not afraid to attack larger animals, for example, roe deer cubs.
Desert predator diet
What eats a fox that lives in desert and semi-empty zones? The basis of the diet is reptiles (non-toxic snakes, lizards and others). In Canada, in the northeastern part of it, zoologists have repeatedly observed how foxes caught fish from the salmon family from ponds, although not living, but dead. In the summer season, these predators with great pleasure can enjoy large bugs, larvae and other insects. After rain, they collect earthworms.
Food in the taiga
What does a fox eat in the taiga? In such places, it is very difficult for a predator to survive, since there is not much prey here. In the tundra zone, the predator eats passerines, grouse, and less commonly duck birds. In addition, the red cheat preys on small rodents. As a rule, few foxes live in the taiga, since it is difficult to survive here. These predators prefer to settle in the steppe zone in open places, plains and ravines.
Plant food
What does a fox eat, in addition to all of the above? Plant foods are also present in the diets of these animals. As a rule, those red predators who live in the southern regions consume it. They prefer berries (especially blueberries, lingonberries) and fruits, as well as some vegetative parts of edible plants.
Note that such food serves, rather, as an addition to the main diet, it will never become the main dish in the diet, because the fox is by nature a predator, and therefore a meat eater.
What does a fox eat in the spring and summer?
At this time of the year, foxes are especially in need of good nutrition and plenty of prey. Indeed, now they are in their care of the cubs. By the end of March, babies are born after an eight-month pregnancy. As a rule, five to six little foxes are born. The first 1.5 months, the calves feed on breast milk. At the age of two weeks, the kids already see, then the period of rapid development begins, by the end of April or early May they crawl out of the hole, play with each other, and tired, lay on the grass and lie calmly, basking in the sun. At the same time, parents teach little foxes to eat normal food, they bring live prey so that the young ones feel the excitement of hunting for such food.
Concern for offspring can push a fox to attack a large beast, which is difficult to overcome. Scientists have recorded cases when this predatory beast bit a swan.
The fox very often comes up with very original ways of getting food. For example, it was noticed that predators at a safe distance follow the tractor plow, which opens the field at night. It turned out that foxes so caught voles, whose holes were opened during plowing. With the accidental death of this predator (the animal fell under the plow), people saw sixteen rodents in its stomach. This observation allowed scientists to conclude that rodents are the basis of the diet of the fox.
Fox feeding at home
Wild fox you can der
reap at home, but for this it is necessary to create special conditions for her, as well as ensure proper nutrition. The best option to keep such a predator is an aviary, in which there will be a house for rest and sleep of the beast. Now let's talk about feeding.
Although the fox is an omnivorous animal, at home it is better to feed it with high-quality dog food, and to supplement such a diet with fruits and berries.
