Red Fox Home Range

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Red Fox Home Range
Reggie Horel
Field Research
1st and 2nd hour
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A little about the red fox
Red foxes are 3-3.5 feet in length, trim,
long-legged, and built for speed.
Red foxes vary in color from deep, russet red to
sandy blonde. The legs, feet, and back of the
ears are usually black. Underparts such as the
chin, throat, and belly are white.
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Male and female foxes begin to travel together in
pairs during mid-December, but often do not breed
until mid-January. Juveniles are sexually mature
at about 10 months of age, and breed 3-4 weeks
after adults become sexually active
Approximately 89 of the adult females and 59 of
the juvenile females produce a litter.
A female may move her litter to an alternate den
site (usually located within 1 mile of the
current denning area) if she is disturbed. Fence
rows, pastures, farm fields, or woodlots with
loose soils are preferred denning habitats.
The red fox's gestation period is 53 days in
length. An average litter consists of 5-6 pups
which are born during mid-March. Abandoned
burrows constructed by badgers or woodchucks are
often enlarged and used by foxes as natal dens.
Some foxes give birth to litters in bush piles or
rock piles. About 11 of all Wisconsin dens are
communal, meaning that foxes from more than one
family share the same den site.
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Feeding Habits
Red foxes eat a wide variety of foods, but show a
preference for small and mid-sized mammals such
as mice and cottontails. Plants and insects are
often eaten during spring and summer. Depending
upon the time of year, up to 72 of the total
volume of a fox's diet is composed of cottontail
rabbits, making them the single most important
food item of Wisconsin foxes. Red foxes also
consume shrews, squirrels, songbirds, pheasants,
ducks, grasshoppers, garbage, carrion, fruit,
grass, grain, and other items. Well developed
senses of sight, smell, and hearing make the red
fox an efficient predator. Scientific evidence
indicates that a red fox can locate a rustling
sound within 1 degree of its true location, and
can hear a mouse squeal at 150 feet. A variety of
hunting styles are used to capture different
types of prey. When hunting mice, foxes stalk
within pouncing distance, lunge 2-6 feet, and try
to pin their quarry with their front feet. If its
prey escapes, the fox rears up on its hind legs,
turns in all directions searching for the mouse,
and makes another pounce if the mouse is spotted.
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Habitat
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History in Wisconsin
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More History
Prior to settlement, red foxes were present
throughout Wisconsin in limited numbers. Logging
and farming by early settlers created better
conditions for red foxes by increasing habitat
diversity, but fox populations did not expand
until 1930-'45. The state paid bounties on red
foxes intermittently between 1880 and 1963, but
discontinued the program due to prohibitive
administrative costs and questionable results.
Some individual counties continued to pay
bounties until 1980. Research conducted in
southern Wisconsin during the 1970's indicated
that a year-round harvest season, combined with
high pelt prices, had allowed foxes to be over
harvested in some areas of the state. As a
result, the first Wisconsin fox season, running
from mid-October through the end of February, was
initiated in 1972. The fox season was reduced to
4 months in length during 1976, and was shortened
to 3 months in 1978. The current 3 to 3.5 month
season provides ample recreational opportunities
for Wisconsin hunters and trappers, yet limits
harvests to biologically safe levels. Red foxes
are most abundant in southern central and western
Wisconsin. The statewide population is currently
stable at about 61,000 red foxes. Throughout
southern Wisconsin, however, competition from
expanding coyote populations may be causing a
slight decline in fox numbers.
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DNR Managment
Biological models are used to simulate the
effects of different birth, death, and dispersal
rates in red fox populations. Data collected from
southern Wisconsin foxes indicated that fox
numbers in this state reach stability when
harvests approach 55 of the fall
population. Wisconsin's current management goal
is to harvest approximately 27,000 red foxes per
year (44 of the statewide population) through
1993. Fox harvests in Wisconsin are controlled by
setting the season length and opening date to
balance recreational demands with the resources'
capabilities. The fox season north of state
highway 64 opens 2 weeks earlier than in the
southern zone, because furs become prime at an
earlier date, and less harvest pressure is
exerted on fox populations in northern Wisconsin.
Average pelt values can affect statewide fox
harvests, and are taken into consideration when
seasons are set. Information from winter track
counts, annual mammal observations hunter/trapper
surveys, and fur buyer questionnaires are used to
monitor changes in red fox abundance as well as
harvest effort.
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The Red Fox Home Range
The Red Fox Tracks and Scat.
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Goals set

• To successfully catch a coyote.
• Check traps daily.
• Once coyote is caught, radio at least 4-5 times a
  week or more.
• (This was still under effect, even though we
  ended up catching a fox)

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Problems Encountered
When we started off early in the year, one
coyote was killed which resulted in a unused
collar. We set traps at my Grandparents in late
November, we struggled to catch anything in the
leg hold traps or snares. We caught every thing
but a coyote, which includes, many raccoons, an
opossum, and a fox, (which was let go) During
the winter we couldnt set coil traps so we set
drag traps. We again didnt have any luck
catching a coyote. We had a lot of luck catching
every thing else and especially the nice presents
of a skunk! Then in February we caught a female
fox, and decided that we were going to collar
the fox, and get data. Finally we had caught
something that we had been waiting for, for what
seemed forever.
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Traps Used
Drag set
Leg hold set
Live trap
Snare
Coil trap(leg hold)
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The dirt hole set
The dirt hole set is one of the most effective
sets for trapping. It is made by digging a small
hole in the ground and hiding a trap in front of
the hole. The mouse hole itself will attract the
attention of an animal. Bait and lure placed in
the hole will add additional attraction's to the
set. The dirt hole set is especially effective
for fox and coyotes.
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Snares
Snares are considered to be traps, but they
function differently than most other trapping
devices. Snares are made of multi-strand steel
cable. To use a snare, you form the cable into a
loop and suspend the loop over a trail the animal
is using. The animal enters the loop and tightens
the snare down on itself. The snare is designed
to capture the animal by the neck or body and
restrain it like a dog on a leash.
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This drag trap is usually attached to the coil or
leg hold trap.
Drag Trap The drag
trap is used in all seasons but is most effected
in the winter months when the ground is to hard
to set a ground set. The drag trap is set the
same way the coil trap is, covering the trap and
the drag is a necessary to conceal from the
animals. Once the animal is caught, it will drag
the trap till it catches on stable object like a
tree. This trap is effective in many ways.
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Live Traps
Live Traps are used to usually catch smaller
animals like raccoon, problem cats, opossum,
skunk or any other small problem animal. They
are rarely used for the catching of coyote, and
fox, but they can be used for that. In which
case we tried to used this method, but it didnt
work. Coyotes and foxes, are unsure, when they
approach these traps and rarely go in them,
because of suspicion.
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Travis Farm
This is the location in which our fox was caught.
You will notice a small yellow star, that is the
precise site that in which it was caught.
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Trap Locations
This map is a map that shows where our traps were
located on the farm. We had a variety of
different locations with different habitats.
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Range Probabilty
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Wetland lowland shrub broad leafed dec.
Ag. Corn
This chart shows the main habitat that the fox
was located in.
Grassland
Ag. Forest Crops
Forest mixed other broad leafed dec.
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Core Range
The Lightest red (pink) was the range that the
fox was located the most. The darker it gets the
less was located.
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Habitat Types of Harmonic Mean
Ag forage crops
Forest mixed
Ag forage crops Ag Forage Crops
Grassland
Forest mixed
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Harmonic Mean Description
In the core activity areas of the Red Fox, its
core areas out of six, were found in Ag. Forage
crops.
Forage crop areas
Mixed Forest
Grassland
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Site Fidelity Test (Random Walks)
Site Fidelity Test shows whether the data vs.
random data is territorial.
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The End
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Credits
http//www.jsonline.com/outdoors/wildlife/redfox.s
tm
www.webshots.com
http//www.nationaltrappers.com/RedFox.html
Arc View
Yahoo!!
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