The Red Fox's Activities During Winter

Growing a Winter Coat

• Foxes grow a thicker coat to protect them from the elements during the period from late fall into early spring. This coat molts as the warmer season approaches, giving them a piebald appearance as they change their winter coats for their summer ones.

Courtship and Mating

• Foxes begin to seek mates in November. After a courtship period, mating takes place in January or February. Foxes give birth after a gestation period of about 55 days. The male remains with the female to help hunt in order to feed the young.

Preparing a Winter Home

• After pairing up, a male and female fox prepare a natal den for their kits. During spring and summer, adult foxes spend most of their time above ground. They choose a snug hole for the safety and warmth of their young. While gray foxes den in caves and hollow logs, the red fox digs a hole in the dirt. They sometimes use groundhog burrows for these natal dens.

Hunting

• In the winter, foxes must rely exclusively on hunting for their food supply, preying on birds as well as small mammals such as mice, squirrels and rabbits. They eat more omnivorously in the summer months, taking advantage of abundant vegetation by eating berries, corn, apples, grapes and grasses as well as beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, crickets and crayfish. To compensate for the loss of these summertime dining opportunities, their regular nocturnal hunts lengthen during the colder months and they extend their range. Red foxes exhibit both trickery and athleticism in their hunting, sometimes playing dead to attract prey and able to leap as far as 15 feet onto an unsuspecting animal.