Red Foxes
by Shirley
In this report I will tell you all about Red foxes. You will learn about its name, size, color, and lifespan.
The name Red Fox comes after the color of their fur. Their name “red fox” is almost like a nickname. Their scientific name is Vulpes Vulpes, Latin word for “fox” or “cunning”.
The size of a red fox is three and a half feet long and fifteen inches tall at the shoulder. At about twelve pounds, they are about the size of a big reddish house cat.
Red foxes have beautiful red fur . Not all foxes are red. Other foxes come in grey, black with silver tips, and yellow marked with a dark cross of outstanding hairs over the shoulders.
Wild red foxes live two or three years on the average, because they have many enemies, such as hawks, owls, coyotes, and wolves. In captivity they can live for about twelve years. Humans are probably their number one enemy because people don’t like them getting their chickens. Humans ruin fox habitats, and hunt them for their fur.
Source:
City foxes photography by Wendy Shattil ; story by Susan J. Tweit. Denver, CO : Portland, OR : Denver Museum of Natural History ; Alaska Northwest Books, c1997.
Original Illustration by Shirley