Nature Bulletin No. 700   January 12, 1963
Forest Preserve District of Cook County
Seymour Simon, President
David H. Thompson, Senior Naturalist

****:ILLINOIS FOXES

The Red Fox and the Gray Fox are the only common wild relatives of 
the dog in the Chicago region. Another, the coyote, if present at all in 
recent years, is very scarce, Both foxes have long pointed faces, large 
ears, long legs, long bushy tails and weigh only about ten pounds. The 
red fox is reddish yellow with a white tip on the tail and has black 
stockings on its feet and legs. The gray fox has a grizzled gray back 
with rusty yellow on the throat, sides, feet and legs. The tip of its tail is 
black.

In Illinois the red fox is most at home in farmlands, open country and 
the borders of woodlands where it has held its own and thrived over the 
years in spite of hunters, trappers and the disturbances of its habitat by 
man. The less common gray is a shy forest animal that has increased in 
wildlife sanctuaries. However, the total fox population of the Cook 
County forest preserves is probably little different from that of other 
areas of similar size in Illinois.

Foxes consume a wide variety of foods but the principle items in the 
diets of both species are rabbits, mice and other rodents. In summer and 
autumn they eat quantities of berries, wild fruits, nuts and acorns. To 
this menu they add insects, reptiles, a few wild birds and carrion. 
Formerly, the belief of sportsmen and farmers that foxes were deadly 
enemies of game birds and domestic poultry led to the payment of 
bounties for their destruction. Now that the facts show that they are 
more beneficial than harmful, most of these bounties have been 
stopped.

During the 1920's the long thick richly colored fur of the red fox was 
fashionable for women's scarves, muffs and coats. Hunters and trappers 
in the northern states received $10 to $20 each for good quality skins. 
Since then, fox fur went out of style and its price has fallen too low to 
tempt the professional trapper. In a few downstate Illinois communities, 
sportsmen still run foxes with dogs merely for the pleasure of listening 
to the music of the hounds.

Foxes mate in late winter and the 3 to 6 blind helpless pups or kits are 
born about 53 days later. A pair of red foxes often takes over a 
woodchuck burrow that they enlarge. The grays commonly den in a 
hollow tree, a hollow log or under a rock pile. The pups open their eyes 
in about ten days but remain in the den for a month or more. At this 
time they mew like kittens. After that they are fed in front of the den 
where they play with bones, have mock fights, and chase their tails. The 
parents range out for a mile or more to bring in food for them. If 
disturbed the young are moved to a new den -- and sometimes their 
playthings with them. At two months of age they are weaned and the 
family begins to hunt together. In autumn the family breaks up. Six to 
ten years is a ripe old age.

During the remainder of the year the red fox sleeps on the ground with 
the tail curled over its nose and feet. The gray has the astonishing 
undoglike habit of climbing trees to sleep or escape danger, Chiefly 
nocturnal hunters, each travels several miles in a night. The gaits of a 
fox are about the same as those of a dog except that when walking or 
trotting the tracks of the right and left feet are in a single straight line 
instead of zigzag. Their top speed seems to be only 26 miles per hour 
for short distances. The red is more cunning than the gray and readily 
outwits dogs by circling and backtracking.

The oldest writing that man learned to read was the tracks made by wild 
animals in mud, dust or snow. Instead of studying the Three R's, Indians 
and other primitive hunters were lifelong students of these signs. It is 
still thrilling to get into the out-of-doors after a fresh snow and try to 
read the record of the secret life of a fox written during the hours of 
darkness.