Common gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) | Project Noah

Today is World Chimpanzee Day!

Close

Error message

Unable to fetch location details at this time.

Photo by KarenL

Published on Project Noah

Zoom

35.8987, -86.9624

Field Notes

Notes:

We have been watching these foxes since June this year when we first observed the vixen with her 3 kits - http://www.projectnoah.org/spottings/7077156 We still get regular daily visits from the vixen, & the 2 female kits that are still hanging around together, but we haven't seen the young dog fox for a while so we think he has moved on to establish his own territory. They eat spilled seed from the bird feeders, table scraps, & they dig for moles. We also occasionally leave dog food with worming medicine out for them. Today the 2 sisters were rooting around under the feeders as usual so I took a few photos.

Reference Links:

Gray fox

Species ID Suggestions

Comments (48)

Sign in to comment

Thanks ceejay!

nice shot :)

Thanks Jacob & Gilma. Sadly my little fox family has moved on & I've not seen them for almost a year. I did spot a red fox in my yard last week though so maybe we will have more sightings in 2013.

Gilma Jeannette Ospino Ferreira-Norman

What a gorgeous animal!! First time I see this beautiful fox so close! The pictures are amazing, I feel as if I was there! Thank you so much for sharing.

Beautiful, Karen!

Thank you!

Beautiful

We saw the vixen occasionally last spring, but after she had her kits the whole family would visit us 2 or 3 times daily even in the middle of the day, & seemed comfortable to be around us as long as we didn't approach them. The kits have moved on now & we only see mom once or twice a week. Fingers crossed she will choose to have her next litter here in the spring! I've not seen these guys climb - that must be a really interesting sight!

LisaPalmerFleming

These are great pics. I have only seen these in the twilight, so never got a good look like this. I especially like the front shot, an also the great view of the black stripe down the tail. Have you seen them climb? Thanks for your feedback on my sighting, too.

Yes unfortunately they do have that tendency. We have a lot of feeders so there is usually somewhere the little guys can feed safely away from the bully birds & the squirrels! All I need to do is to work out how to stop the raccoon from stealing all the suet (& the suet feeders!)....!

I'll have to watch for blue jays now. We don't get too many of those....only one big bully at the bird feeder.

How lovely! Hopefully I will see more of the cardinals' courting in the spring! The blue jays are fun to watch too - the males feed the females & bring them little 'gifts' of twigs & pebbles!

The first time I ever realized that the cardinals were doing a courting dance (it really does take about a month in total) I was fascinated. They start off not really getting that close to one another but rather chasing one another. Then they get a little closer and fly a little slower and then finally they hang out side by side for a few days before finally permanently nesting for the season. So much fun. Yes, it is amazing how we can establish relationships with the wild. The other most significant relationship we have is with the squirrels who toss chestnuts at us when we sit on the deck with the dogs. It's the only time they toss the chestnuts still full of nuts. Fun....(as long as you don't get hit in the head with one of those nuts.....LOL).

Thanks Atul!

lovely !!

It's amazing how it is possible to build up a relationship with the resident critters - I had a pair of blackbirds that nested in my yard for 12 years in the UK. The male became so used to me he used to hop onto the plate I used as a ground feeder while I was still carrying it after filling it! He would also dance around in front of me when I was in the yard to let me know when the bird bath was dry! I really do hope to see more of the foxes next year & I will keep putting out food when the weather is bad. We've also put up lots of bluebird boxes & a martin house so hopefully we will get some more bird action too! The cardinals are so beautiful - we have several pairs but all the courting happened in our pine trees this year so we didn't get to see it!

Well it's likely that since you have provided her with such a great place with food that you will see her again in the spring with a new family. How fun! We have this great pair of cardinals that come back every year and do a mating dance for about a month in the spring in our Rose of Sharon plants. Fun to watch them come back yearly. Not as much fun as a fox and her kits though.

Hi Apple, I'm good thanks! All the kits have moved on now - we last saw the 2 sisters about a month ago. It's kind of sad but I guess it was time for them to move on & find their own territories. We still see mom, but only once or twice a week at the moment though the scraps we leave out all disappear so maybe she just visits when we aren't around! Fingers crossed we will see her more regularly in the spring, & maybe with more kits!

Hello Karen..hope your holidays are treating you well. Was wondering how your beautiful fox are doing. Are they still coming around to feed?

Thanks Apple! We are very privileged to share our yard with these guys!

Excellent spotting! We have some fox in Michigan but nothing this large. Also, our fox is harder to get closer to in the wild.

Thanks Marta, Alice & 8BitFinch! Marta, because we see these guys every day, it gives us a chance to really keep check on their health. A few months back we started seeing one of the kits scoot around on his backside the way dogs do when they get worms, so now they get wormed every 2 weeks - along with anything else thats stops by to dine on the dogfood we add the medicine to (raccoon, crows, feral cat!). Our vet is a good friend & he has been supplying us with slightly outdated avian safe worming solution FOC which has been a huge help.

alicelongmartin

I didn't realize how beautiful the Gray fox was with his white bib and big eyes. So nice that you can help keep them healthy and see them so often.

Nice! and you do a nice thing by helping them to keep healthy.

Thanks Carolina & ceherzog! Gray foxes are omnivores & fruit & seeds make up around 70% of their diet - mine enjoy sweet potato skins, cooked pasta & they love strawberries!

Wonderful photos...I also had foxes coming to eat seed spilled out from my bird seed feeder...that really amazed me. Excellent!

The first photo is so beautiful, Karen!

Excellent photos!

Thanks Sharon & welcome to Project Noah!

Wow, gorgeous photo and fox!!

Absolutely! And better parenting skills! :)

Heck of a lot better than any of these "Real Housewife" shows!!! BAHAHAHAHAHA I could to a series called "Real Nestwives of NY!" ahahahahahaha, it would be much more interesting to watch for certain!

Great idea! You will have reality TV that's actually worth watching!

Well, hopefully you get one for xmas!! I also think the Nest cam is an awesome Idea. I have considered that myself as we have several different species of birds that nest within a 50yard radius of the house here. I could easily setup cams on the new nests in the spring and have everything wireless. :-D

I've been thinking of that for a while as I would love to see what's around at night! I think it's one for my Xmas list! I'm also thinking of putting a nest cam in one of our bluebird boxes so we can watch progress without interfering with the nest.

I can tell ya what you might find as a good investment. ;-) A Trail Cam / Camera Trap. Get a decent one to put out there. They fire automatically and can capture some really good quality images both day and night. Many people use them for hunting purposes, however National Geo and many other Scientific and Wildlife organizations are using them now to capture pictures of endangered and rare species without being intrusive or invasive to the environment animal's environment. :-D

Brandon, you are right - her eyes do look blueish! They are still quite young but I suspect it is a reflection from the sky. They seem comfortable to be out & about during daylight which is unusual as gray foxes are normally crepuscular, but are still very nervous when we are about (which I think is a good thing as it's healthier for them to be wary of humans!) so I haven't been able to get any really good close-ups of their faces.

Emma, the fawns are pretty big now but their mom still keeps a watchful eye on them! Thanks for the warning - we do have cats but they are indoor only as we want to keep them safe from the local wildlife (coyotes, great horned owls & hawks) as well as keeping our resident critters safe from them. I didn't realize deer barked! We often hear strange barking noises in the woods alongside us that I had assumed were from the foxes but it could well be from the deer. Thanks Gale! I had resident red foxes in my yard in England & they were much sturdier & bolder than these guys but equally appealing!

Karen, the first photo really captivates me. The eyes of the fox are absolutely amazing, not sure if it's me or if they really are bluish in their tint?

galewhale..Gale

Thanks for describing as well as photographing what you are seeing and your history with these beautiful delicate foxes (our red foxes look robust in comparison). It makes the photos so much richer and the experience shared! Their eyes are amazing!

@ Karen, Does are very protective of the fawns. Please take care of your dogs and cats. i saw a glimpse of a video in which the mom was kicking the dog very hard. When it comes to their children animal moms become very aggressive. Did you know that Deers bark?

I know, we are very lucky! Early this morning we had the 2 foxes, a wild turkey & a doe with 2 fawns all in the yard at the same time!

What a place to be!!

Thanks Julio & Emma! I never tire of watching these guys!

lovely Karen!

Thanks guys!

precioso!!!!!!

Great photos! Such a beautiful animal.

Accelerate our Mission to Photograph
Every Species in the World!

Butterflies icon

Become a Community Sponsor

Wildlife Community

Wildlife Community

Join a worldwide community passionate about wildlife and nature!

Join Project Noah

Nature School

Nature School

Transform your green space into a curiosity-creating nature classroom!

Visit Nature School

Wildlife Game

Wildlife Game

Defend wildlife throughout the jungle in thrilling nature game!