Fox Calling

[Nut]

After I saw a Red Fox this past weekend, I wondered on what methods you could use to call them in.

Would you call them the same as a coyote?

 

[Doug]

Use a cottontail or high pitched sound for red foxes. It's easier to call reds just before or after dark or early in the morning. Pretty much everything else is the same as calling coyotes. Randy Buker is an expert at calling red foxes and his web-site has lots of good information. http://www.geocities.com/foxhunter_56308/
Doug

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-20-2003 20:13: Message edited by: Doug ]</font>

 

[NASA]

I don't know if it's just me or what, but fox are easy. I've called them in with a Lux squeeker, a voice box from one of my kids dolls, and just sucking on the back of my hand. Sometimes I don't even bother to get out of the truck. Do they seem really hard for you guys?

 

[HUNT2MUCH]

The fox here in Idaho are as stated, easy..
they are not sly , smart or anything else when it comes to callin, One thing I have noticed when calling in more flat land, river bottoms , fields, etc, they like to find a high spot to look around , like a ditch bank a small mound of dirt and even a tree stump, they seem to circle to these spots to have a look see, so I always set up with several spots in mind...H2m

 

[Doug]

Red foxes are much more timid than greys. A grey fox will charge to the call and come back for seconds if you miss a shot. A red fox will sneak up on the call and if you miss a shot, he's not coming back. Grey foxes are easy if you find their little core area, red foxes run a bigger area and are very much of a challenge to bring into a call.
Doug

 

[NASA]

Doug (or anyone), I can't find an answer to this. How can you tell a grey fox from a silver or silver-mix? I know the silver is black, but a silver phase mixed with red phase or cross phase looks to me like a grey. How do you tell for sure? I've only had my hands on red phase and greys.

 

[Danny Batastini]

NASA, not being the smartest guy on earth, I think the red fox has all the phases and a gray fox is a gray fox and only a gray fox. Somebody please look it up lol.

 

[Doug]

Red Fox
Vulpes vulpes
Description - This small, doglike animal is rusty-red with white underparts, chin and throat. The ears are prominent and the tail is long and bushy with a white tip. Backs of the ears, lower legs and the feet are black. The fox goes through colour phases of black, silver, and mixed.


Distribution - The red fox prefers the edges of forests, tilled fields and near marshes but they can be found on farmland, beaches, prairies, woodlands and both alpine and arctic tundra. They thrive throughout most of British Columbia.


Biology - After a 51-53 day gestation period, up to 10 kits are born. Because of its well-developed sense of hearing, sight, and smell the red fox is an efficient and lethal predator; being an omnivore it eats whatever is available including corn, berries, apples, grasses, birds and mammals. The fox has many enemies including coyote, lynx, and humans. It is also susceptible to rabies.


Tracks - The trail of the red fox generally follows fencelines and the edges of forests and fields in a straight line but this line may vary depending on the animals speed and gait. The print is usually smaller, longer and narrower than that of a dogs. The front print is wider and larger than the pointed hind print. The heel pad is an inverted V-shape with a unique calloused ridge across the center of the pad.

Straddle: 8 - 10.5 cm (3.2 - 4.2 in)
Stride: 30 - 40 cm (12 - 16 in)
Track: 5.5 cm (2.2 in) long / 5 cm (2 in) wide
http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/redfox.htm

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-26-2003 09:09: Message edited by: Doug ]</font>

 

[Doug]

GRAY FOX

GRAY FOX
Urocyon cinereogentus

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HABITS AND HABITATS
The gray fox is omnivorous, it feeds on cottontail rabbits, mice, and other small mammals, birds, eggs, insects, plant material, and fruits. The gray fox is primarily nocturnal, but may occasionally be seen foraging during the daylight hours. They mate around February and March, and have 2-7 young, which are born in March or April. The male helps tend to the young, although he does not den with them. They den in hollow logs, beneath boulders, in ground burrows, or in hillsides. The young begin to hunt on their own around 4 months of age. Gray foxes prefer woody, brushy habitats, unlike the red fox which prefers more open Habitats. Gray foxes have been known to climb trees to find refuge from a threat, or to forage for eggs or fruit.
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HISTORY
The gray fox belongs to the genus, Urocyon. They branched off from the ancient canids and have existed as their own branch for about 4- 6 million years. The gray fox and red fox existed on different branches of tile Canidae family tree. There are two gray fox species: the Channel Island gray fox (Urocyon littoralis) which occupies six small islands off tile coast of California; and tile gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargetilus) which is tile species that occupies Western North Carolina, as well as other places in North America. Due to the gray foxes secretive nature and nocturnal habits, they are a difficult wild canid to study.

<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 10-26-2003 09:26: Message edited by: Doug ]</font>

 

[MULE]

Check out this red fox. From washington state.

Not very red for a red fox

 

[Rich Higgins]

Tom, all color phases of the red have black legs. Grays, swifts, kits and arctics do not.

 

[MULE]

Rich,

You sure do know alot about FOXES!!

 

[NASA]

Thanks guys, I'm grateful for the education.
And Mule, that mezmerizing video tag of yours tells me you know a thing or two about foxes, as well.

 

[Rich Higgins]

Mesmerizing is right. That video tag is just flat busy.

 

[Crow Woman]

uhmmm Rich, I don't think 'flat' is a word that could be used with that

 

[Lone Howl]

Yeah, shes vulpes vulpes.. I mean vuluptous...whatever, shes hot.