The weather has moderated a bit today. The goal of readings above zero seems within reach. Yesterday no tracks in the snow were evident, but now the animals are moving. I'm still curled up in my den, but maybe after several frigid days they are hungry.Just what can we tell from this great set of tracks? The print on the left is easy to identify. It's Ed's size 11 boot and measures 12" long. The other tracks belong to a fox. The footprints in a line like that clearly were made by a fox
When a fox walks his tracks double register. That is the hind foot is placed directly on top of the print from the front. It seems like it would be difficult to do that , but if you are smart like a fox , I guess it's easy. There are two kinds of foxes here, the red fox, Vulpes vulpes, and the gray fox,Urocyon cinereoargenteus. We have seen both kinds based on the white or black on the end of their tail. According to my reference, Tracking and the Art of Seeing, these less than 12" apart tracks are more likely to belong to a gray fox.
Gray foxes are native. Red foxes are from Europe. I'm not entirely convinced that there hasn't been some hybridization going on. Until we moved here I had never heard of a gray fox. The most incredible thing about a gray fox is it's ability to climb trees. I even followed some tracks to the edge of the woods once, and saw them end at the trees. Frankly I was spooked at first to think that a fox could get up in the trees, but gray foxes just have a lot in common with cats.
I love having a friendly fox hanging around the garden. Here's hoping our fox found the furry breakfast he was looking for.
5 comments:
My parents frequently see a fox on their property and, unfortunately, at last sighting, he was limping badly. :(
Hi Becky, What an interesting post. I didn't know foxes could climb trees. We've got some kind of fox that roams around but they're pretty skittish. Beautiful photo too.
A neighbor farmer tells of finding the skeletal remains of a fox stuck in the crotch of a tree. The fox had fallen and became trapped. The hand of learning was applied to the seat of my pants as a child for climbing trees but this danger was never mentioned.
That is fascinating about the gray fox being native and the red fox European. Thanks for including the name of the track identification resource you used too. That's what I should use to figure out what made the snow tracks I've photographed here.
Have fun with your furry friends there!
~Aerie-el
Aaah! If you have Brer Rabbit, can Brer Fox be far behind?
Very interesting! I had no idea about their peculiar way of walking. Nor did I know that they could climb trees !
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