Gray Fox

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Gray Fox

The Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) is a mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
of the order Carnivora

Carnivora

The diverse Order Carnivora includes over 260 species of eutheria mammals. Its members are formally referred to as carnivorans, while the word "carnivore" can refer to any meat-eating animal....
ranging throughout most of the southern half of North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
from southern Canada

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
to northern Venezuela

Venezuela

Venezuela , officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a country on the northern coast of South America.The country comprises a continental mainland and numerous islands located off the Venezuelan coastline in the Caribbean Sea....
and Colombia

Colombia

Colombia , officially the Republic of Colombia , is a country in north-western South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the north west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean....
. This species and the closely related Island Fox

Island Fox

The Island Fox is a small fox that is native to six of the eight Channel Islands of California. It is the second smallest fox species in the United States....
are the only living members of the genus

Genus

A genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the classification of living and fossil organisms. The taxonomic ranks are domain , kingdom , phylum, class , order , family , genus, and species....
Urocyon
Urocyon

The genus Urocyon is a genus that contains two living Western Hemisphere foxes in the family Canidae, the Gray Fox and the closely-related Island Fox which is a insular dwarfism cousin of the Gray Fox; as well as one fossil species, Urocyon progressus....
, which is considered to be among the most primitive of the living canids.

Description and behaviour
The Gray Fox is distinguished from most other canids by its grizzled upper parts, strong neck and black-tipped tail, while the skull can be distinguished from all other North American canids by its widely separated temporal ridges that form a U-shape.

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Description and behaviour

The Gray Fox is distinguished from most other canids by its grizzled upper parts, strong neck and black-tipped tail, while the skull can be distinguished from all other North American canids by its widely separated temporal ridges that form a U-shape. There is little sexual dimorphism, save for the males being slightly but smaller than females. The Gray Fox ranges from 800 to 1125 mm (31.5 to 41.3 inches) in length. Its tail measures 275 to 443 mm (10.8 to 17.5 inches) and its hind feet measure 100 to 150 mm (4.9 to 5.9 inches). It weighs 3.6 to 6.82 kg (7.9 to 15 lbs). It is readily differentiated from the Red Fox

Red Fox

The Red Fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora. In the British Isles, where there are no longer any other native wild canids, it is referred to simply as "the fox"....
by the lack of "black stockings" that stand out on the latter.

The Gray Fox's ability to climb trees is shared only with the Asian Raccoon Dog

Raccoon Dog

The Raccoon Dog is a member of the Canidae family and is indigenous to east Asia. It is the only extant taxon species in its genus Nyctereutes....
among canids. Its strong, hooked claws allow it to scramble up trees to escape predators such as the Domestic Dog or the Coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the prairie wolf, is a species of canid found throughout North America and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States, and Canada....
, or to reach tree-bound or arboreal food sources. It descends primarily by jumping from branch to branch, or by descending slowly backwards as a House Cat. The Gray Fox is nocturnal or crepuscular

Crepuscular

Crepuscular is a term used to describe some animals that are primarily active during twilight, that is at dawn and at dusk. The word is derived from the Latin word crepusculum, meaning "twilight"....
and dens in hollow trees, stumps or appropriated burrows during the day.

Reproduction

The Gray Fox is monogamous. The breeding season of the Grey Fox varies geographically; in Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a Midwestern United States U.S. state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Anishinaabe language term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, the Grey Fox mates in early March, in Alabama

Alabama

Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west....
, breeding peaks occur in February. The gestation period lasts about 53 days. Litter size ranges from 1 to 7. Kits begin to hunt with their parents at the age of 3 months. By the time they are 4 months old, the kits have developed their permanent dentition and can forage on their own. The family group remains together until autumn when the young reach sexual maturity and disperse.

Diet

The Gray Fox is a solitary hunter and is largely omnivorous. It frequently preys upon the Eastern Cottontail

Eastern Cottontail

The Eastern Cottontail is a New World cottontail rabbit, a member of the family Leporidae. It is one of the most common rabbit species in North America....
(Sylvilagus floridanus), though it will readily catch vole

Vole

A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, and smaller ears and eyes. There are approximately 70 species of voles; they are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America....
s, shrew

Shrew

Shrews are small, superficially mouse-like mammals of the Family Soricidae. Although their external appearance is generally that of a long-nosed mouse, the shrews are not rodents and not closely related: the shrew family is part of the order Soricomorpha....
s, and bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s. The Gray Fox supplements its diet with whatever fruit

Fruit

The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context, and the term is not synonymous in food preparation and biology. In botany, which is the scientific study of plants, fruits are the ripened Ovary of flowering plants....
s are readily available and generally eats more vegetable matter than does the Red Fox

Red Fox

The Red Fox is a mammal of the order Carnivora. In the British Isles, where there are no longer any other native wild canids, it is referred to simply as "the fox"....
(Vulpes vulpes).

Subspecies

There are 16 subspecies recognized for this fox:

Urocyon cinereoargenteus cinereoargenteus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus borealis
Urocyon cinereoargenteus californicus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus costaricensis
Urocyon cinereoargenteus floridanus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus fraterculus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus furvus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus guatemalae
Urocyon cinereoargenteus madrensis
Urocyon cinereoargenteus nigrirostris
Urocyon cinereoargenteus ocythous
Urocyon cinereoargenteus orinomus
Urocyon cinereoargenteus peninsularis
Urocyon cinereoargenteus scottii
Urocyon cinereoargenteus townsendi
Urocyon cinereoargenteus venezuelae