By Misi Stine, Environmental Educator and member of the MN Herpetological Society
Working with wildlife for as long as I have, I’ve found that animal ID is one topic that comes up often. Some animals are easy to tell apart, others not so much. There may not be one key element to focus on that will allow you to make an accurate ID. It is usually a combination of physical characteristics, behaviors, and habitat that allow for an ID with higher confidence. This article is the first in a short series where I will explore some of the key differences between commonly confused species.
Fox are the smallest of the canids in Minnesota and are distinct enough in size to tell from the larger canid species such as a coyote or wolf, however, telling the two Minnesota fox species apart can be somewhat challenging.
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) common coat color is rusty red and white, with a bushy white tip tail, black legs, ears and nose. It stands 15-16 inches at the shoulder and is about 3 ft long with a 13-inch-long tail. They typically weigh between 8-15 lbs.
Red fox. Superior National Forest, CC BY 2.0
Red Fox are terrestrial, living their lives on the ground. They are solitary hunters with a varied diet, focusing on small rodents such as mice and also ground squirrels, rabbits and birds, snakes, fish, insects, and will forage for berries, nuts and seeds. They are a corpuscular species, and most active at dusk and dawn. They are common throughout Minnesota, are habitat generalists, and are even found in urban areas in some abundance.
Cross Fox (red fox color morph) Martin Lopatka, CC BY-SA 2.0
There are some color variations throughout the species that can complicate identification. They can be solid black, silver and black, orangish, or what is referred to as a “cross fox” with red and dark colored bands that crisscross on their back.
In contrast, the Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) although similar in body shape and size to the red fox, comes in at 12-16 high at the shoulder, 35-40 inches long, with a 12-15-inch-long bushy tail and typically weighing 8-14 lbs. Their usual coat is different in color, they have gray salt and pepper color fur, with a black strip on their back and around the tip of the tail with a buffy yellow colored belly.
Diets of the two species are also similar in that they both eat rodents, plants, small birds and insects, but the gray fox focus more of their effort specializing in hunting cottontail rabbits and will also take new born fawns in the spring. Like the red fox, they are corpuscular and most active at dusk and dawn.
The gray fox is one of only two canid species worldwide known to climb trees (the other is the east Asian raccoon dog). It is also more particular about the habitat it lives in, which is primarily mature hardwood forests and woodlot habitats. They are most common in these habitats from southeastern to northwestern Minnesota, and more recently in north central Minnesota, possibly due to a changing climate and the expansion of cottontail rabbits into this region. They are not commonly found in southwestern farmlands or northeastern forests.
The best key to use when trying to determine whether it is a red or gray fox is the color of the tip of the tail. It can be used more reliably in blurry or night trail cam photographs. You can also narrow it down if you’ve seen the fox in a tree, or if it is outside the more limited habitats that a gray fox is found. One note of caution, I, as most naturalists are, am always careful to never say I am “100% positive” of any animal I ID, because there are numerous things that can impact what you saw, especially at a distance or in a photograph or video. To reach an ID with any level of confidence, be sure to consider as many factors as possible. And never shy away from the discussion with others on what you saw.
Bibliography
Gray Fox. (n.d.). Retrieved from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: https://www.dnr.state.mn.us/mammals/grayfox.html
Meet the Animals. (n.d.). Retrieved from Wildlife Science Center: https://www.wildlifesciencecenter.org/meet-the-animals
Red Fox. (n.d.). Retrieved from Minnesota Department of Natural Resources: dnr.state.mn.use/mammals/redfox