Gray Fox: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Foxes and Raccoon Dogs · day 4 of 7

Five facts

1. The gray fox is a real climber. Using hooked claws, it can scramble up bare, upright trunks as high as 18 m.
2. To get down, it hops from branch to branch, or backs slowly down the trunk, just like a pet cat.
3. No other member of the dog family has a natural range covering both North and South America.
4. When nuts and fruit are plentiful, it hides some and marks the spot with its scent, to find it later and keep others off.
5. To keep clear of coyotes, gray foxes often live near places people use, since coyotes tend to avoid them.

The quiz

1. Up to what height can a gray fox climb a bare tree trunk?

• 2 m
• 100 m
• 500 m
• 18 m (correct)

It can climb branchless, vertical trunks to 18 m.

2. How does a gray fox come down from a tree?

• By gliding
• Backwards, like a cat (correct)
• By sliding down vines
• By leaping straight to the ground

It jumps between branches or backs slowly down like a domestic cat.

3. What is special about the gray fox's range?

• It covers both North and South America (correct)
• It is only on islands
• It is in Africa and Asia
• It is only in deserts

No other canid naturally lives in both North and South America.

4. Why does a gray fox scent-mark the food it hides?

• To make it ripen faster
• To warn of danger
• To find it again and keep others away (correct)
• To attract insects to eat

The mark helps it find the food later and stops other animals taking it.

5. Why do many gray foxes live near places people use?

• People feed them every day
• Coyotes tend to avoid those places (correct)
• They need streetlights to hunt
• They cannot find trees elsewhere

Coyotes, a bigger predator, tend to avoid areas people use.

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