Furtive Foxes

A while back I was driving along the river not too far from where I live and suddenly saw a fox cross the road.  I was not in the country, but in a residential area and not far from downtown Pawtucket.  I was very surprised, but maybe I shouldn't have been because like the opossums and raccoons foxes are very opportunistic and adaptable animals.  In fact the red fox is the most widely distributed of all the fox species and lives across North America, Central America, Europe and Asia.

Photo by Joel Sartore   Source:  National Geographic

A fox's diet consists of rodents, birds, fish, snakes, grasses, fruit, and insects.  In other words, just about anything.  And, of course, a fox is not above scavenging in garbage or eating pet food left outside.  Although the red fox is generally a reddish color, its coat can have many color variations including gray, blackish-brown and silver.

There are about 12 species of true foxes, along with subspecies within those 12.  Some of the more unusual species of fox includes Ruppell's fox found in the Middle East and North Africa...

Source:  The Living Desert

Blanford's fox found in the Middle East...

Source:  Wikipedia

and the Corsac fox found in the central steppes of Asia.

Source:  Wikipedia

The smallest fox is the Fennac fox found in Sahara regions of Northern Africa.  It is also adapted to survive without water if necessary, acquiring the moisture it needs from its food.  Like many desert species it is nocturnal, sleeping during the heat of the day and hunting at night when it's cooler.

Source:  Wikipedia

And perhaps the most unusual looking of them all, the more wolf-like Tibetan sand fox, which lives in the higher elevations of the Tibetan Plateau in Nepal, India and China.

Source:  Featured Creature

You may have noticed that the desert species and those that live in rockier terrain have lighter colored coats to blend in better with their surroundings.  In Native American stories, the coyote is known as the trickster, but the fox is known as the trickster's twin or younger brother, also known for its resourcefulness and sly ways.