Red Fox: a two-minute wildlife lesson

Foxes and Raccoon Dogs · day 1 of 7

Five facts

1. To catch a mouse, a red fox finds it by sound, then leaps high, steering with its tail in mid-air, and lands up to 5 m away.
2. Its hearing is superb. A red fox can hear a mouse squeaking about 100 m away.
3. Scientists have counted 12 different sounds made by adult red foxes, and eight made by kits.
4. A family can include helpers. These are mostly last year's young, who stay on to help raise the new kits.
5. Red foxes have moved into towns. In the UK, there were about 33,000 city foxes in 1995, and by 2017 there were 150,000.

The quiz

1. What does a red fox steer with when it leaps onto a mouse?

• Its ears
• Its whiskers
• Its tail (correct)
• Its front paws

It steers with its tail in mid-air before landing on its prey.

2. From how far away can a red fox hear a mouse squeak?

• About 100 m (correct)
• About 1 m
• About 5 m
• About 10 km

It can hear mice squeaking at about 100 m.

3. How many different sounds have scientists counted in adult red foxes?

• 2
• 50
• 120
• 12 (correct)

Adults make 12 different sounds, and kits make eight.

4. Who mostly helps raise a red fox family's new kits?

• Badgers sharing the den
• Last year's young (correct)
• Wolves from nearby
• Nobody, the mother is always alone

Helpers are mostly young from the previous year.

5. About how many urban red foxes lived in the UK in 2017?

• About 500
• About 1,500
• About 150,000 (correct)
• About 15 million

There were about 33,000 in 1995, and 150,000 by 2017.

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