Foxes at The Lodge

The Red Fox measures 22 to 32 inches in length, and the tail is 14 inches to 16 inches long. An adult fox weighs between 6 to 15 pounds. The males, or “dogs,” are usually heavier than the females, or “vixens.” Breeding occurs during February and March. The den is a hole in the earth, 15 to 20 feet long, usually located on the side of an embankment and can have several entrances. Occasionaly foxes dig their own dens , more often, they take over and enlarge the holes of small burrowing animals, such as marmots. They also will use abandoned wolf dens wolves may also enlarge and use a fox's den. The den is grass-lined nest where furry but blind babies called kits are born after a gestation of about 53 days. Litters are between four and ten kits. At birth baby kits weigh about 4 ounces. Usually only one litter is born each year. The kits' eyes open 8 to 10 days after birth and they leave the den for the first time a month later. By the time they are 3 months old, they are learning to hunt. Both parents take care of the kits until the fall when each animal goes on its own way. They are omnivorous and eat muskrats, squirrels, hares, birds, eggs, insects, vegetation, and carrion, but voles seem to be its preferred food. They cache extra food when the hunting is good and return in the lean times.