Fox Characteristics

Fox Characteristics

• Foxes have sensitive whiskers on their faces that help them find out about their surroundings and feel tiny movements of animals in the grass.
• They have triangle-shaped ears, pointed noses, and bushy tails, resembling small dogs.
• Foxes are warm-bodied mammals that have fur-covered bodies and feed their babies milk, belonging to the same animal group as dogs, wolves, and coyotes.
• They are known for their beautiful, thick coats, which help them hide through camouflage.

Fox Adaptations

• Foxes grow heavier coats to keep them warm in the winter and shed the extra fur in the spring for a lighter summer coat.
• Arctic foxes change color completely with the seasons, turning white in winter and gray or brown in the summer.
• Desert foxes have short fur and big ears to help their bodies get rid of extra heat.
• Arctic foxes have small ears, short legs, and the warmest fur of any mammal, able to stay warm even in extreme cold.

Types of Foxes

• There are over 20 different kinds, or species of foxes, found in almost every part of the world except Antarctica.
• Red foxes are the most common and best known, living throughout most of North America and other parts of the world.
• Gray foxes have shorter legs and gray fur, found throughout the US and Mexico.
• Arctic foxes live only in the far north, while swift foxes and kit foxes are smaller types from grasslands and deserts of western North America.
• Fennec foxes of Africa's Sahara Desert are one of the smallest kinds, weighing only 2 to 3 pounds.

Fox Dens

• All foxes make use of dens, which are safe places to rest, raise babies, or escape from enemies.
• Dens keep foxes warm and dry in bad weather or shaded and cool in hot weather.
• Foxes make their dens in hollow logs, under big rocks, and under fallen trees, sometimes even digging tunnels into the ground.
• Arctic fox dens can be huge, with dozens of entrances, and can be up to 300 years old.
• Gray fox dens are sometimes in hollow trees, and they have sharp, hooked claws that allow them to climb trees.