Red Fox

The introduced Red Fox is approx 60cm-74cm long in the body with a tail approx 35cm-40cm long and it weighs approx 3.5-8kg.

They are mostly nocturnal but will hunt in the day when necessary. They have good day time vision.

The most obvious signs of a fox is seeing one. I have seen more foxes out at night but I have seen them in the day hunting and scavenging too. I have usually been driving and have not photographed a fox.

The Red Fox is not native to Australia and so has made the whole food chain unbalanced, ie it is a top predator along with the Dingo and Feral cat. They are not meant to be apart of this countries food chain and have few predators that eat them.

Tracks

You can also come across fox tracks quite frequently. These fox tracks here show that the fox was walking, if the fox had been trotting the prints would be right next to each other.

They are different to dog tracks and cat tracks. Dog tracks have larger claws and cats don't leave claws prints as they retract their claws. The dogs print is also larger than the fox print.

When a fox or dingo walk their back foot will step in front of the front foot track.

This fox skull was 125mm long and 70mm wide at the widest point.

Lower jaw teeth

Upper jaw teeth

Upper jaw

The upper jaw has a total of 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars and 4 molars.

Lower Jaw

The lower jaw has a total of 6 incisors, 2 canines, 8 premolars and 6 molars.

What does it eat?

This is a truly opportunistic feeder, meaning it will basically eat anything dead or alive and this contributes to its successful breeding. The fox is killing an enormous amount of our native wildlife from insects to mammals to birds and reptiles.

A fox will also eat fruit and berries and needs to drink water.

As much as you may enjoy the experience of a wild fox coming around your campsite, please do not feed it! It could also have a lot of bacteria on its teeth and could bite.

Before seeing a den you may smell it. There could be a strong urine smell this is also true for bats. This den was seen but not smelt at Perup in the south-west with a macropod skeleton inside. It was a large hollowed out tree. The next time we returned here it was empty.

The Red Fox has 4-5 cubs per year.

As a fox eat a variety of animals and plants the scats will be different for different foxes.

Photographed at the Western Australian Museum.

Fox scats

Other signs that foxes have been there are the remains of a kill partially buried or left under a bush. When a fox makes its kill it often bites off the head and leaves the body whole and then will tear it open to eat the organs inside. A bird of prey will pluck the feathers or fur and strip off bits.

A fox will usually dig a sandy burrow or use a rabbit burrow or hollow log to sleep.

During the mating period you could hear high pitched barks or other calls.

Photographed at the Western Australian Museum

Other places I have seen foxes;

I have seen foxes outside our tent licking up the burnt scrapings of dinner off the ground at Kennedy Rangers.
Foxes trotting along the roadsides in the wheatbelt and southwest. (And many road kills).
A fox at Coranation Bay during the day.
A fox hunting small birds in a bush during the day in the Pilbara.
The closest fox to Perth was seen at Point Walter on a warm summers evening.
A fox was scavenging out of the roadside bins in the Mid west.
A fox with a fresh kill in its mouth outside Karakamia Sanctuary north of Perth.
Fox dens have been seen at Perup forest and Dryandra woodlands. (We have observed the foxes den active for three years at Dryandra).
Rowles Lagoon Conservation Park near Coolgardie outside our tent at 4am and a dead fox was seen on the roadside in this area.
Fox tracks have been seen all over the state (excluding the Kimberely) in sanctuaries, national parks, reserves, private property, beaches etc.

Text;
"Tracks, Signs and Nests" by Harry Frauca. This is an older book and will only be found in libraries.
"A Field Guide To Mammals Of Australia" by Peter Menkhorst, Frank Knight.