THE COMMON KIT FOX

A small-sized Fox, with a small, slim body, long slender legs and large ears. Coat coloration is yellowish gray to dusty grizzled, becoming paler on the sides, and pale yellow to white on the underparts. Shoulders, lower sides, flanks and a strip across the chest are buffy to orange. Underfur is heavy. Sides of the muzzle, lower lip and posterior upper lip are blackish or brownish. Relatively large ears, tan to gray on the back, changing to buff or orange at the base, with a thick border of white hairs on the forward inner edge and inner base. Narrow muzzle. The soles of the feet are protected by stiff tufts of hair. Tail is long and bushy, tapering slightly toward the tip, with a pronounced black spot over the caudal gland, and a black tip. Females are slightly lighter than males, but there is no other obvious sexual dimorphism.

About the species

The kit fox is a fox species that inhabits arid and semi-arid regions of the southwestern United States and northern and central Mexico. These foxes are the smallest of the four species of Vulpes occurring in North America and are among the smallest of the vulpines worldwide. It has large ears, between 7.1 and 9.5 cm (2.8 and 3.7 in), that help the fox dissipate heat and give it exceptional hearing (much like those of the fennec fox).

The color and texture of the coat vary geographically. In general, the dorsal color is grizzled or yellowish-gray. The grizzled appearance is the result of guard hairs that are typically black-tipped or with two black bands separated by a white band. The guard hairs are less than 5 cm long, and particularly prominent in the middle of the back. The soles of the legs are protected by stiff tufts of hair, a trait that improves traction on loose sandy surfaces as well as protection against extreme temperatures; muzzles and vibrissae are generally black to brown. The tail is bushy and gray, with a black tip, and the caudal gland has a pronounced black spot. Unlike the gray fox, it has no stripe along the length of its tail. Its color ranges from yellow to gray, and the back is usually darker than the majority of its coat; its belly and inner ears are usually lighter. It has distinct dark patches around the nose. The ears are tan or gray on the back, turning to buff or orange at the base. The shoulders, the lower sides, the flanks, and the strip about 2.5 cm wide across the chest range in color from buffy to orange.

Reproduction and behavior

Gestation: 49-55 days.
Young per birth: between 1 and 6.
Weaning: 90 days.
Sexual maturity: 12 months.
Life span: Around 4 years, 12 years in captivity.
Breeding season: From December to February.

Males provision females for the first few weeks of pup rearing. At weaning, both parents bring food to the den. Pups emerge when they are 4-5 weeks old and begin to forage with the parents at 3-4 months of age. Young generally disperse in October. They can dig their own dens but will often enlarge burrows of badgers and other species. Dens are used as rest sites, shelter against harsh weather, to bear and rear young, and to escape predators, and are used primarily by the members of the resident family and may be used repeatedly over multiple generations. Frequent den switching is common. Kit foxes are mostly nocturnal and sometimes crepuscular; they escape heat stress during the day by resting in underground dens. Kit foxes normally forage on their own. Kit foxes are not exceptionally territorial, preferring to live in pairs or small groups of relatives.

Dens are used during the year for daytime resting, escaping predators, avoiding extreme heat, preserving moisture, and carrying and rearing young. Kit Foxes will dig their own dens, but they can also modify and use the burrows of badgers, ground squirrels, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats. Dens are spread across the home range, and an individual fox usually uses more than 11 dens in a given year. They normally rest in their dens during the day, but sometimes can emerge to bask and, when pups are young, to play. Social behavior: Mated pairs with pair bonds that last several years; monogamous with occasional polygyny.

Diet and interaction with the environment

Their diet consists in lagomorphs, prairie dogs, and kangaroo rats, but also will feed on ground-nesting birds, reptiles and insects; cactus fruits may be eaten if available. They also will consume human foods and will cache food for use at a later time. They do not need access to water. Different kit fox families can occupy the same hunting grounds, but do not generally go hunting at the same time. Kit foxes are also known to cache food and eat human food. Their main predators are Coyotes, Red Foxes, domestic dogs, and bobcats.

The kit foxes are primarily nocturnal, with peaks in activity occurring during crepuscular periods. Daytime hours are usually spent resting in or near the den. Home range estimates vary from 2.5 to 11.6 km2. Mated pairs are territorial with home ranges that overlap little with neighboring pairs. Territories are maintained primarily by scent marking. Vocalizations include growls, barks, whimpers and purrs.

In comparison to many canids that pants only at the resonant frequency of the thorax, kit foxes pants at a rate proportional to the ambient temperature before the rate exceeds the resonant frequency. In doing so, kit foxes exercise the economics of water at the cost of energy. The apparent velocity of kit foxes is essentially an illusion created by their limited size and cryptic coloration, and their incredible ability to evade and change directions. An accurate account clocked a fox kit at around 40 km/h in front of the car, but the fox was easily exhausted.

Habitat:

Kits foxes are native to Mexico and United States. It occurs from Northern Mexico and Baja California, through western Texas, west of the Rocky Mountains to Southwest Idaho and south east Oregon, and in portions of California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and Colorado.

Conservation status: Least Concern. Regional status: Vulnerable in Mexico, Threatened in Oregon, Endangered in Colorado, protected in Idaho, Utah, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas. Populations appear to be declining in parts of their range. The main threat is habitat conversion and degradation. Its pelt has little market value.

They inhabit arid and semi-arid regions encompassing desert scrub, chaparral, halophytic regions, and grasslands. Generally, areas with sparse ground cover are favored. Vegetation habitats vary with the regional fauna, but some examples are sagebrush Artemisia tridentata and saltbrush Atriplex polycarpa. Loose textured soils may be prioritized for denning. Kit Foxes can also be found in agricultural areas, in particular orchards, on a small basis, and can even inhabit urban areas. They are mainly found at elevations of 400 to 1,900 meters (1,300 to 6,200 ft) above sea level.