Foxes are attuned to the earth’ s magnetic field which informs their hunting technique.
make up much of their diet. Both field, and use it as an aid to estimate distance to their prey. foxes catch mice and voles with an acrobatic pounce, though red foxes In the northern hemisphere, are particularly well known for this the magnetic field tilts downward, aerial technique; a flying, high-arcing leap, steering with their tails as 60-70 degrees. In 2016, scientists
hitting the ground at an angle of
they go. In deep snow, the animal discovered how they can recognize lands head first, up to 16 feet from electromagnetism; a protein previously known only in birds and bats where it launched! They use their superb hearing, which allows them is present in foxes as well as some to hear both the high and low other mammals. The protein sits pitches of small rodent sounds to in the retina and allows the animal locate prey. That they can rotate to detect the earth’ s magnetic their ears independently— up to field. In studies of red foxes using 150 degrees— provides for great the“ mouse pounce,” when the fox accuracy in pinpointing the origin faces northeast, their success rate of sounds. in capturing their prey is 73 %—
Characteristic head tilting whereas from any other direction, while hunting also means that success is only 18 %. sound hits the hunter’ s two ear
When the angle of the sound canals at slightly different times, of the mouse matches the slope of helping them triangulate the prey’ s the magnetic field, the fox knows location. Until just a decade and exactly how far away the mouse is, a half ago, that was believed to be and can jump far more accurately exclusively how all foxes hunted. to land on it! While we’ ve long recognized that many birds migrate
But scientists discovered something extraordinary in 2011; foxes using the earth’ s magnetic field can sense the earth’ s magnetic for guidance, foxes are the first
animal known to use it to hunt!
For both species of fox, scent plays a fundamental role in delineating territory, and even mates. They have a number of scent glands, and both urine and feces are also used to mark territory— which is why you may find fox poo in seemingly odd places! Foxes use glands in their mouths to mark tree branches and rocks, by gnawing on them and releasing scent. This can be both a way to remember where they have been and / or to mark territory. There are two glands near the anus which carry a potent musky odor— one that’ s even more powerful during mating season. Indeed, if you’ ve been outdoors at times and convinced that a skunk may have sprayed nearby— it’ s quite possible that what you actually smell are the scent markings of a fox.
Gray foxes are almost exclusively hunters at night and in the twilight of dawn and dusk. Red foxes have similar habits, though when they are raising their kits and need to find more food, they may do more daytime hunting. So if you see a fox out and about in the daytime, it likely has nothing at all wrong with it. Gray foxes are less commonly seen during the day, though at a distance it can be difficult to tell them apart.
LISTEN UP!!! n Foxes have over 28 distinct sounds for communication. For the red fox, they vary from a short, sharp“ yap” or bark, followed by a“ yap, yap,” to a combination of screeches, yells, whines and long howls. https:// www. youtube. com / watch? v = WkKtO9ZzjCU n Gray foxes have calls that include short barks, yips, chuckles, growls and squeals. https:// www. youtube. com / watch? v = Yno7TZtbVPo. n And here’ s a fun video of gray fox kits climbing trees: https:// youtu. be / aa27i1dkS9w
16 plenty I autumn harvest 2025