She is the smallest member of the popular Canine (or Canine) family. It is distributed almost throughout the world. She, like her relatives - coyotes and jackals - was able to survive, despite the severe onslaught of man. People called her a cunning cheat. Who is she? Of course, the fox!
Who is she?
The ordinary fox (or red) is a carnivorous mammal belonging to the Canidae family. It is the most common and largest species of the genus foxes. The size of these animals does not inspire much fear, since the size of a fox is usually with a small dog. Their body length ranges from 60 to 90 cm, and the length of the legendary tail does not exceed 60 cm. The red cheat weighs from 6 to 9 kg.
Where is it distributed?
Currently, the habitat of this red predator is extensive. The common fox is distributed throughout Europe and Asia, up to southern China, in southern Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Egypt) and in North America, up to the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. Moreover, this red-haired beast was artificially acclimatized by a man in Australia! Since then, these animals have spread almost throughout the small continent. We will tell you more about the settlement of foxes in certain areas when we talk about their ecology.
How does she look?
An ordinary fox, the description of which we will now give, is a rather elegant creature. At all times, fox fur was famous for its beauty, silkiness and reddish-orange tint, playing in the sun. The chest of the fox is white, and black “boots” are clearly visible at the ends of the paws. The muzzle, like all Canids, is elongated. The clever eyes, similar to cat's, give a special charm to this creature. Her legendary tail is fluffy and long. It visually increases the fox in size.
In general, the color and size of these predators are completely different, much depends on the habitat of the animal itself. For example, an ordinary fox living in the northern territories (photo is given in the article) is larger than its counterparts, and its fur is lighter. In turn, closer to the south you can find small foxes with tarnished fur. Nevertheless, her most popular color is bright red, because it was not in vain that she was nicknamed the red cheat!
What does she eat?
Mostly red foxes prefer open meadow areas where you can catch mice, field voles, rabbits and even grasshoppers. Their main “menu” is small rodents from the Polevkov family. It is believed that the population of red foxes largely depends on their number in a particular area. This is especially important in winter: in the cold season, these animals hunt exclusively for voles. An ordinary fox regulates the number of rodents.
Hares are of secondary importance in the food chain of foxes, but in some cases, cheats purposefully catch rabbits and hare. During the so-called hare morale, foxes can become scavengers and eat their corpses. Birds play a smaller role in feeding red-haired beast, but on occasion she will not miss her chance! They love foxes to empty clutches of bird eggs, abduct domestic chickens, geese, etc.
By the way, these animals, although they belong to the order of carnivores, do not disdain plant foods. The ordinary fox eats various berries (strawberries, blueberries, cherries), apples and grapes with pleasure. In hungry times, these animals eat oats, causing significant damage to crops.
How does she hunt?
The main hunt of an ordinary fox is to catch voles. This process even got its name - mouse. So she mice a vole: smelling a rodent under the dense snow cover, the beast first begins to listen attentively to his squeaks, jumps and rustles, and then dives into the snow! Sometimes a fox can quickly and deftly throw snow in different directions, trying to catch a vole. And she succeeds.
Lifestyle
Usually red foxes live in pairs, in rare cases - families. Their home is nothing more than an ordinary hole. They can independently dig their own holes or occupy someone else's (for example, the burrows of arctic foxes, badgers, marmots). You will not find fox dwellings anywhere: an individual site should not only provide its inhabitants with a normal amount of food, but also be located in a suitable place. All kinds of slopes of hills or ravines most often become these places.
Fox holes usually have several entrances leading through long tunnels to the most important chamber - nesting. Often these animals become fond of and, accordingly, equip natural shelters - crevices, hollows, caves. As a rule, these animals do not have permanent dwellings. They use only temporary shelters during the upbringing of their offspring, and the rest of the time they live in open areas where there are many mice. In the wild, these animals survive only up to 7 years, but increasingly their life expectancy does not exceed 3 years. It is noted that in captivity they can easily live a quarter century.
Ecology of the common fox
As mentioned above, the ecology of this red beast is very extensive. The color of the fox and its size are directly related to the habitat of the beast and certain factors that determine the existence of the fox in certain territories. The red cheat with different densities populates all the landscape and geographical zones available in the world: these are the tundra, subarctic forests, steppes, deserts, and even mountain ranges in all climatic zones.
Whatever the habitat of the common fox, it still prefers open areas and areas with ravines, groves, hills and copses. This is because in winter the snow cover in such places is not too deep, but loose. This allows foxes to easily do their usual business - mice. You already know what it is.
The ordinary fox, as a rule, leads a sedentary lifestyle. In most regions of the world, these animals are not characterized by any migration. Mostly the inhabitants of the mountains, tundras and deserts migrate. In this case, the young growth leaves the “parental home”, moving up to 30 km from it.
Ordinary fox. Subtype Description
This species of fox is rich in its diverse subspecies. In total there are more than 40 of them. Scientists have estimated that, with their variety of subspecies, these cheats are second only to the progenitor of domestic dogs - the wolf. For centuries, the fox has demonstrated an amazing ability to survive. Perhaps it is for this reason that the classification of the common fox is so rich. So, its most popular subspecies are recognized:
- European forest;
- Tobolsk;
- Anadyr;
- Yakut;
- Kamchatka
- Sakhalin;
- Ussuri;
- Shantar;
- European steppe;
- Azerbaijani;
- Daurian;
- Turkmen;
- Crimean
- Caucasian;
- Turkestan;
- armenian.
