“I have noticed that many foxes, while crossing the open grassy valleys of central Alaska, carry their bushy tails turned up at an angle of about fifty degrees. Whether this is a possible shield against attack from the air, or a kind of lure to cause a swooping eagle to aim too high, is only a guess. Perhaps it is to keep the gorgeous brush dry and unsoiled.” –-Victor H. Cahalane, Mammals of North America (my grandfather’s old book, published in 1947)
Many people have heard stories about the sly red fox. They silently creep around urban and rural settings, snagging easy food, preying upon smaller mammals, and snagging the occasional berry or seed when available. While many people have seen foxes disappear from their periphery, enough to cause them to wonder whether it was really there or not, or see them along roadsides or in the flash of headlights, foxes rarely stay in one place for any length of time. This not only ensures the likeliness of finding more food due to covering more ground, but also reduces the chances of us humans getting many glimpses of this beautiful animal–an animal humans have hunted and trapped for its fur in all of its range for centuries. In my experience, gray foxes are even more mysterious. They are very uncommon in Maine, where I spent most of my life, and even where they were considered more common than red foxes in the foothills of the Californian Sierra Nevada where I lived for a year, I never saw one. I saw my first gray fox just the other day. But before I go into its identification, let’s start with the more commonly seen of the two foxes.
The Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes: When I lived between the Teton and Gros Ventre mountain ranges in northwestern Wyoming last year, this particular red fox made an unusual habit of lingering among human dwellings in order to hunt the Uinta ground squirrels that were just emerging from their long winter’s sleep under the snow (see my brief post about that nutty little rodent here). While we knew of no one that had fed this fox, she was remarkably courageous about being around humans in the middle of the day. While she left at least ten feet between herself and anyone else, she offered many opportunities for observation and photography. I loved having her around for the week that she remained nearby.
Notice those tall, pointy ears and the not very red coloring. Red foxes come in many colors (called different color “morphs”); there are gray morphs, silver morphs, black morphs, dark and pale red/orange morphs, and basically any color combination in between. Check out this website to see pictures of many of the different red fox morphs.
The Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus: Just the other morning here in my relatively urban backyard in southwestern New Hampshire, I had yet another amazing opportunity to observe another one of the members of the canid family. As I sat at my desk perusing readings for some classes at about 7:00AM, I noticed a dark movement through the window to my right. I immediately identified this mammal as a fox, but it looked a little “weird”–not like any morph of a red fox I had ever seen. This fox was definitely a fox, but it seemed smaller than the average red fox yet not as skinny as the gray foxes I had seen in pictures (the temperature was in the single digits F, so it was quite puffed up). This fox seemed to have every possible fox color in its coat with a back of a grizzled gray, its chin and chest of white, and its shoulders, legs, and parts of its head were classic red fox orange. The tail ended with a fluff of black and the forehead was topped with a triangle of black. I will admit that I assumed it was just a different color morph of a red fox since I doubted the likeliness of this creature actually being the reclusive gray fox, but I looked up photos of these two species (they are even in different genera!) and realized that, indeed, I had a visit from a gray fox!
“The gray fox is the only fox that is apt to climb trees. It may go up just to look around. When pursued by dogs, it sometimes leaps into the branches bounces from limb to limb and then hides quietly in the thick foliage. If the lowest branch is ten feet above the ground, it may “shin” itself up the trunk like a bear until it can hook a front foot over the first limb. Sometimes it uses a convenient fork just to rest and soak up the sunshine.” –Victor H. Cahalane, Mammals of North America
So, what’s the difference between a gray fox and a red fox, especially if it is a gray morph of a red fox?
The major differences between the visual characteristics of a red fox and a gray fox are as follows: gray foxes can climb trees, so if there is a fox in a tree, you can be sure it is not a red fox. The gray fox’s tail is tipped with black while the red fox typically has a white tipped tail (not always, however). As I noticed, the fur on a gray fox’s back is a grizzled gray with a black line extending from the top of its head down its back. Red foxes rarely display all those characteristics and are generally slightly longer and bigger in every dimension.
Partridge, Pine, and Peavey 
Great photos!
Thank you! I was in the right place at the right time for sure!
Such beautiful creatures. Now and again I’ll see a fox in our town – a red fox. I didn’t know that grey foxes existed, though we obviously don’t get them in the UK!
I suppose that would be another identification characteristic: “if you see one in the UK, it is not a gray fox!”
Also, as a sidenote, how weird is it that people in the US and UK spell gray/grey differently?!
Yes, you can understand us evolving different words, but you wonder how spellings for the same words changed!
Very interesting and some cool photos. It’s been ~68 years since Mammals of North America was published; has anyone come up with a definitive reason for way they carry their tails the way they do when crossing the open areas?
That is a great question, David. I did some research and could not find a definitive answer for you! The tail’s position communicates many things to other foxes and it certainly contributes to the fox’s balance. I read in one place that an erect tail as Cahalane described communicates a dominant/confident fox. Surely his hawk theory has some truth to it as well. I wish I had a better answer! I do love reading those old naturalists’ books–what a window into the way humans have interacted with wildlife over time.
Thank you for checking; didn’t mean for you to go to that trouble I was just curious what you did or didn’t know off the top of your head. I like the hawk theory as one piece of the explanation. Like most things I would guess it’s probably a little bit of everything you referenced.
I love any excuse to find out more! Keep the questions coming.
What beautiful captures….we only get red foxes here in the UK, but they look different from both of yours!
It is amazing how two of the same species can look so different while species from two different genera can look so similar!
I have gray foxes that have babies under my shed every year. Right now I believe ther are two males and a female adult in the ledge behind the shed and the babies live under my shed and momma comes back and forth not going far. They are adorable and I have pictures. I put out salad or pasta and bread and the adults come right up to the deck. They are not aggressive at all. People call me crazy but I think they are good for rodents.
It’s always exciting to be able to observe wildlife from close up! Feeding wildlife is very dangerous, thoigh, as they become aggressive when they come looking to humans for food. That has caused too many cases of wardens having to kill those nuisance animals. It’s always better to provide the right habitat for them to live and find their own food nearby.
I have been feeding them for years. The city has been building and exploding behind our house taking their woods.theres noplace for them to go survive any more.
Development is certainly the biggest threat to foxes. At least your place is providing a sanctuary for them for now! And their presence no doubt reduces the rodents that carry ticks and Lyme disease with them.
Just reading this older blog because an odd creature appeared one day and has been back every evening. since. We weren’t sure what he was but are fascinated to watch him. He’s reddish-brown with a grey spattering across his back. He has no fancy-fox-tail. It’s a short whitish stub of a tail. He has a barrel belly shape and a doggish face. We know it’s a male because we saw him lift his leg! First, we guessed, he could be a coyote or possibly a wild dog. But his ears are a fox’s ears. Assuming he lost his tail in a trap or in a fight. He likes a bowl of puppy food and watermelon is his favorite desert! He stays and eats for 20 minutes-1/2 hour. Last night, he ate all but one wedge of melon which he carried off with him when he left. He tolerates us quietly watching him but if we speak- even in quiet, gentle tones, he runs away. I think he’s an elderly grey fox but that’s just my guess. We’ve also had a skunk/ 3-legged, red fox pair that used to visit our cat food dish on our back porch. While, we’ve had them raid our chicken pens before, we still love the local foxes! Nice blog, btw.
How strange! Have you gotten any pictures? It does sound like maybe it lost some of its tail.