Above: Red foxes have adapted to living in close proximity to humans in urban and suburban areas; right: grey foxes can scale trees to escape predators, to hunt, for play and even to catch some shuteye.
are more likely to use their speed to escape something they consider to be a threat. However, they’ re not the only fox species in our area; gray foxes are also native. With shorter legs than the red fox, the gray has a slightly stouter appearance with a total length of 30-44 inches, including tail, and weighing in at 8-15 pounds. Much of its coat is a grizzled or silvery gray with some reddish fringe typically around the neck and face. Cheeks, throat and most of the underside are white, somewhat similar to the red. But whereas the red fox nearly always has a white tail tip, the tip is black on a gray fox— a strong telltale when you’ re trying to identify a fox from a distance. Gray foxes also have a dark dorsal stripe that runs from the top of their head along their backs and continues along their tails.
These two foxes are not merely different species; they are actually in separate genus classifications, meaning that their evolution from a common ancestor diverged quite a long time ago.
As canids, they are in the same family as wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingoes and domestic dogs. Like most other fox species, reds have vertically slit pupils, while grays are more oval-shaped.
Gray foxes also mate in winter, though their vocalizations are not as dramatic as those of the reds. They too give birth in the spring, though their dens may be up in a hollow bole of a tree, in dense underbrush or rock outcroppings, and occasionally in underground burrows.
While both species are agile and can access trees, gray foxes have unusual adaptations that aid their tree climbing; their claws are semi-retractable, and their wrists can rotate as much as 150 degrees. This means they can climb straight up the trunk of a tree, grasping with their sharp claws, and shinnying up— or down— with the strength of their strong hindquarters. While red foxes can leap onto more horizontal tree limbs, and even pad along them, jumping between limbs and using balance and
their non-retractile claws to stay stable, they are not as adept as the grays. With their camouflage coats, grays easily hunt and rest in trees, as well as escape predators by blending into the landscape. Both species’ bushy tails help with that balancing whether along a branch or atop a wooden fence.
The two species hunt some of the same prey, eating small mammals like voles and mice, chipmunks and squirrels, catching rabbits and birds and consuming birds’ eggs as well as all sorts of insects and even nuts— though gray fox adaptations for climbing mean they likely have more birds and bird eggs in their diet than red foxes. Both are omnivores, with berries and other fruits comprising some of their seasonal fare.
Foxes are also adept scavengers, so in suburban and urban settings, leftovers from humans can
plenty I autumn harvest 2025 15