This week French word is “Renard” and that means fox in French.
- Foxes live all over North America. They adapt very easily and can manage in a dense forest or a suburban neighborhood. They make their home under sheds, in the hollow of trees, in ground burrows, and in wood piles
- Fox species include the gray fox, red fox, arctic fox, kit fox and fennec fox. The red fox is the most common. There are 21 species of fox. The fox is the smallest member of the dog family. They have a lifespan of 2 to 5 years but some have lived to be 14 years old in captivity.
- Foxes breed between December and February. In the spring, the female may produce a litter of 4 to 5 kits. The kits have no fur and are blind. The mother has her litter in a den. She does not leave the den for the first two weeks after the cubs are born. The female nurses her kits. When the kits are about 4 weeks old they begin to venture out of the den. They will leave their mother sometime between 6 and 12 months of age. A fox can mate when they reach 10 months of age.
- The fox does not live in a pack. It lives and hunts alone. When a group of foxes are together it is called a “skulk.
- Coyotes, wolves, eagles and the lynx are all natural enemies of the fox.