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Mostly active at night, early morning and late evening, the red fox can be observed during the day as well. I photographed this red fox as it was looking out from its den. Ralph LaPlant Photo

Being a member of the dog family and having a reputation of being sneaky and mean, the red fox is actually and animal of intelligence and fortitude.
    If you were to take away the sometimes-beautiful fur of a red fox, you would observe a creature that is very lean. Weighing only between 6 and 15 pounds and being up to a little over 40 inches long, including the tail, which can be up to 15 inches, the red fox is about 16 inches high at the shoulders
    Varieties of fox colors range from a blondish-yellow to a deep rusty-red. The upper face is rusty, its nose and feet are black, and it has white cheeks and throat. The tail is the color of the animal’s back and has a white tip. In the spring, the winter coat is shed for shorter one.
    Located in the United States and Canada in all areas except for the high plains located just east of the Rocky Mountains, the southeast, southwest, and western coastal regions, the red fox does not migrate, but can travel up to 40 miles.
    The red fox prefers habitat that is located at the edge of country that is open. Being able to adapt to this type of area due to the fact it can run swiftly and avoid enemies, it has been seen in deep forests as well.
    Primarily the meadow mouse feeds the red fox. Killing, at times, for than it can eat, the fox will cache (store) mice until they can be eaten at a later time. The killing of food not eaten immediately happens more when food sources are scarce all around. Foxes also consume rabbits, quail, pheasants, muskrats, chipmunks, squirrels, and woodchucks, weasels, moles, snakes, and shrews. Younger foxes eat insects including grasshoppers, crickets, and beetles. The young consume vegetation such as berries, corn, and fruits.
    Fox like poultry. Often preventable depredation occurs. If farmers were to place more effort in to assuring their poultry stock were fenced and secured nightly, losses would be reduced. Leaving dead animals around farms brings in foxes that are opportunist, looking for an easy meal.
    Foxes have an excellent sense of smell and hearing. They are probably colorblind. They can run up to just over 25 miles per hour and can swim.
    These animals pair up in January and breed a little bit later. After a gestation period of about 55 days, they have a litter of between six to eight kits. Both parents care for the young and in about three months the kits follow the parents and learn to hunt. By fall they fend for themselves. With the main enemy of the red fox being dogs, there is a hunting and trapping season in Minnesota for foxes. Red foxes can live up to ten years in the wild.