Red fox

Red foxes eat lots of different foods.

They catch mice and rabbits. They also eat eggs, berries and fruit. A fox jumps up high and lands on a mouse.

Red foxes are omnivores: they eat both animals and plants. Most of their food is mice, voles and rabbits, plus birds, eggs and fruit. In towns they also eat garbage and pet food left outside.

Their mouse hunting is famous. A fox stands very still, listening and watching. Then it leaps high into the air and comes down with its front paws to pin the mouse, even through snow. When there is extra food, foxes bury it and are very good at finding it again later.

The red fox is an opportunistic omnivore. Small mammals, mainly mice, voles and rabbits, form most of the diet, supplemented by birds, eggs and fruit, and, where available, carrion, grain (especially sunflower seeds), garbage, pet food and domestic poultry (Britannica).

Animal Diversity Web describes the hunting pounce: the fox stands motionless, locating a mouse by sound and sight, then leaps high and drives its forelimbs straight down to pin the prey. Foxes also cache surplus food and are very good at relocating their caches.

Red foxes usually hunt alone.

They come out at night, at dusk and at dawn. Foxes make lots of sounds, like barks and screams.

Red foxes don't live in big packs like wolves. They usually hunt alone, though a mother, father and their young share a den in spring and summer. Each fox has a home range of about 5 to 12 square kilometers, with a main den and a few spare burrows for emergencies.

Foxes are most active at night, dusk and dawn. They are very talkative: scientists have described 28 different kinds of fox calls, and each fox's voice is different enough to tell apart.

Red foxes are solitary hunters rather than pack animals, but they are social within family groups during breeding. Home ranges of roughly 5 to 12 square kilometers vary with habitat quality, and families keep a main earthen den plus emergency burrows. Activity is nocturnal or crepuscular.

Vocal communication is rich: Animal Diversity Web reports 28 described call types, used over short and long distances, with individually distinctive voices. Britannica notes that the removal of wolves and other large predators from farmland and urban areas in Europe and North America by the mid-20th century helped red foxes spread, and that coyotes can limit fox numbers in rural areas.

Red foxes are not in danger.

There are lots of them in many places. In Australia, people brought foxes long ago. There, foxes can harm small native animals.

Red foxes are listed as Least Concern. They are so adaptable that they do well on farms and in cities, and in many places their numbers are stable.

But being so good at surviving can cause problems. In Australia, where people brought foxes in the 1800s, foxes catch small native animals that never had to escape a fox before. Foxes can also carry rabies, so it is always best to watch them from a distance and never feed or touch a wild fox.

The IUCN Red List (2016 global assessment) lists the red fox as Least Concern with a stable trend; its 2023 European assessment reports an increasing trend in Europe. The species' adaptability, broad diet and tolerance of people have made it one of the most successful wild carnivores.

The same traits make it a problem where it was introduced. In Australia, established across much of the continent since the 19th century, it preys on native wildlife. Foxes are also known rabies vectors (Animal Diversity Web), which is one more reason to watch wild foxes from a distance and never feed or handle them.