Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes)
Rehab Criteria: Fox kits will often appear unsupervised for long periods while their parents are out hunting for food. They will play like puppies around the den site until the parents decide they’re old enough to go on hunting trips. Then they will suddenly disappear. Observe the kits from a distance; if they seem energetic and healthy, leave them alone. If they appear sickly or weak, or if you have reason to believe both parents are dead, contact us for assistance.
When rescuing small wild animals, it’s a good idea to wear gloves. Be aware, however, that gloves provide only a small amount of protection, and that most mammals can easily bite through them. Raccoons, skunks, bats and some foxes are more likely than other mammals to carry rabies, but any wild animal may carry the disease. There are a number of other serious or fatal diseases that can be transmitted to humans, so you must take care that the animal doesn’t bite you.
*Potential to carry rabies
Do not handle fox with bare hands as the rabies virus can enter a cut or open wound on your skin. This can also result in the animal(s) being euthanized and tested for rabies.
Physical Characteristics: Reddish coat with black legs and ears and white underside. Long white-tipped bushy tail. Elongated muzzles and pointed ears.
7 to 15 pounds
39 to 43 inches long from nose to tail
Lifespan: 3-4 years (average)
Habitat: prefer a mixture of habitats such as edges with open grassland and woodlands. They adapt well to urban and agricultural landscapes as well.
Diet: Omnivore – Opportunistic omnivores: small rodents, squirrels, woodchucks, rabbits, birds and eggs, amphibians, and reptiles. Foxes also will eat vegetation, fruits, nuts, insects, carrion, and garbage.
Family life: Mating from January through March. After a gestation period of 51 to 53 days, females give birth to a litter averaging 4 or 5 pups in the spring. Red foxes may dig their own burrows, but they usually improve an abandoned animal burrow such as those created by groundhogs or skunks. After about a month, young foxes can often be seen at the den’s
entrance and by 12 weeks of age they fully weaned and will accompany adults on foraging trips. Young will remain with their parents until the fall.
Predators: young foxes can sometimes be preyed on by eagles and coyotes. Adult fox predators include bears, wolves, and mountains lions (not present in Delaware).
Other significant threats: humans, disease, dogs
Special considerations/Interesting Facts: Red foxes are mostly nocturnal animals but are also very active during dusk and dawn. Unlike many of their canine relatives, red foxes are primarily solitary animals. Red foxes are incredibly fast and can run up to speeds of nearly 30 miles per hour. Red foxes can also leap more than 6 feet off the ground. Red foxes are also known to be high vocal including a range of yips, barks, screams/howls, and guttural chattering known as gekkering. Red foxes have excellent hearing and can even hear low-frequency sounds and rodents digging underground.
Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
Rehab Criteria: Fox kits will often appear unsupervised for long periods while their parents are out hunting for food. They will play like puppies around the den site until the parents decide they’re old enough to go on hunting trips. Then they will suddenly disappear. Observe the kits from a distance; if they seem energetic and healthy, leave them alone. If they appear sickly or weak, or if you have reason to believe both parents are dead, contact us for assistance.
*Potential to carry rabies.
Do not handle fox with bare hands as the rabies virus can enter a cut or open wound on your skin. This can also result in the animal(s) being euthanized and tested for rabies.
When rescuing small wild animals, it’s a good idea to wear gloves. Be aware, however, that gloves provide only a small amount of protection, and that most mammals can easily bite through them. Raccoons, skunks, bats and some foxes are more likely than other mammals to carry rabies, but any wild animal may carry the disease. There are a number of other serious or fatal diseases that can be transmitted to humans, so you must take care that the animal doesn’t bite you.
Physical Characteristics: Fur is generally gray color along the back with reddish-brown fur along the sides, chest, belly, and legs. Gray foxes also have white fur around its mouth and throat. Black stripes of fur can be seen running from their mouth to the corner their eyes and down the length of their tail. Long black-tipped bushy tail. Elongated muzzles and pointed ears, though generally more stout than a red fox.
8 to 15 pounds
31 to 44 inches long from nose to tail
Lifespan: 6-8 years (average)
Habitat: Prefers deciduous forests with lots of dense brush, rocky woodlands, and combination habitats with a mix of forest and farmland edges.
Diet: Omnivore – Opportunistic omnivores: small rodents, squirrels, woodchucks, rabbits, birds and eggs, amphibians, and reptiles. Foxes also will eat vegetation, fruits, nuts, insects, carrion, and garbage.
Family life: Gray foxes tend to make their dens in hollow trees and logs, along with underground burrows. Breeding season for gray foxes is usually from late January though May. The gestation period is 51-63 days. The female bears an annual litter of 2-7 pups usually born in late March to April. Pups are usually weaned once they are 3 months old and able to hunt on their own at 4 months old. Young foxes will leave their parents in the fall. Gray foxes are typically monogamous, mating for life.
Predators: Bobcats, coyotes, large eagle and owl species.
Other significant threats: humans, dogs, habitat loss
Special considerations/Interesting Facts: Gray foxes are one of the only members of the canine family that climb trees, with even some dens being found nearly 30 feet off the ground in rare cases. Gray foxes are sometimes also referred to as a “tree fox” or “cat fox” and can use their climbing ability to hunt prey but also escape predators. While gray foxes do use vocal communication, they also rely heavily on chemical signals, and gray foxes have the largest musk gland out of all the North American canids. Similar to other foxes they are primarily nocturnal animals and only occasionally seen during the day.
Coyotes (Canis latrans Say)
*Potential to carry rabies.
Do not handle coyote with bare hands as the rabies virus can enter a cut or open wound on your skin. This can also result in the animal(s) being euthanized and tested for rabies.
When rescuing small wild animals, it’s a good idea to wear gloves. Be aware, however, that gloves provide only a small amount of protection, and that most mammals can easily bite through them. Raccoons, skunks, bats and some foxes are more likely than other mammals to carry rabies, but any wild animal may carry the disease. There are a number of other serious or fatal diseases that can be transmitted to humans, so you must take care that the animal doesn’t bite you.
Physical Characteristics: Point ears and elongated muzzle. Fur is usually a grayish grown with reddish tinges behind the year and around the face. Some natural variation in fur color includes silver-grey to black. Drooping bushy tail that is tipped with black fur. Yellowish eyes with round pupils.
30 to 40 pounds
40 to 50 inches long from nose to tail
Lifespan: 6-10 years (average)
Habitat: forests, fields, farmlands, and even suburban/urban areas. Do not usually sleep in dens except during raising young. Will sleep above around or in brush/cover.
Diet: Omnivore – opportunistic omnivore: small mammals like rabbits, mice and birds, but will also eat deer, sheep, snake, lizards, insects, berries and fruits.
Family Life: Dens used for rearing young are usually made in a field, streambank, hollow log, rock cavity or even abandoned buildings. Coyotes usually breed from late February to March and will give birth to 5-7 pups on average in the spring. Pups are weaned at about 8 to 12 weeks old and will begin to learn how to hunt from their parents.
Predators: mainly only large predators such as mountain lions, wolves, bears, and large eagle species will sometimes prey on coyote pups.
Other significant threats: humans and disease
Special considerations/Interesting facts: Coyotes typically live in highly organized social groups that actually defend their territories, though there are the occasional solitary coyotes. Coyotes are quick to adapt to different environments and have habituated well to human presence, meaning they can be found regularly in urban settings including cities. Coyotes can interbreed with domestic dogs and produce hybrid offspring. Eastern coyotes are bigger than their western counterparts likely due to interbreeding with other species such as wolves and domestic dogs in the past. However, eastern coyotes are still considered coyotes.