What Does a Red Fox Look Like?
Foxes are intelligent and cunning wild canines with narrow snouts and bushy tails. The red fox has rusty red fur with white on the throat, underside, and tail tip. Their ears, legs, and feet are black. They are about 3 feet long, 2 feet tall, and weigh between 6 and 20 pounds. Red foxes have excellent hearing, which enables them to detect low-frequency sounds. They can hear small animals digging underground and will dig out their prey from the ground and snow.
What Does a Grey Fox Look Like?
Gray foxes are slightly smaller in size than red foxes, weighing between 7 and 14 pounds. They have peppery grey fur with reddish-brown patches on their sides, chest, neck, and legs. A line of black fur extends down the top of their tails to the tip. Gray foxes are good tree climbers. They climb by grasping the tree trunk with their forelegs and pushing up with their hind legs. They are most active at night, usually sleeping during the day in dens or hollow trees.
Professional Fox Removal in Milwaukee, WI
If you have seen a fox repeatedly on your property, it may be time to call the animal control professionals at Advanced Wildlife and Pest Control. Foxes can pose a serious threat to small pets and children. Our certified wildlife removal specialists have the knowledge and expertise to trap, remove, and exclude foxes from your home or business. Let the wildlife experts protect your home and family from the potential dangers of foxes!
Are Foxes Dangerous?
Foxes are wild animals that can attack humans and pets. While they are generally shy of people, they can become aggressive. It’s important to be especially cautious with children and pets at night when foxes are most active. Additionally, foxes can carry diseases such as canine distemper, rabies, and tularemia, which can affect dogs and cats from bites.
Fox Exclusion
Foxes often invade properties in search of food, water, and shelter. Though foxes typically avoid human interaction, they have adapted to living in residential areas in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Our heavy-duty mesh fencing can keep foxes out from underneath decks, porches, and sheds. We bury the fencing 12 to 18 inches deep to prevent them from burrowing underneath. Contact our wildlife specialists for fox removal and exclusion today!
Fox FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions
What do foxes eat?
Foxes are omnivores that mainly prey on squirrels, rabbits, rodents, and other small mammals. In the fall and winter, when food is scarce, foxes will also eat fruits, vegetables, and berries. In urban environments, foxes may enter yards to feed on pet food or garbage. Foxes may attack domestic pets.
Where do foxes live?
Foxes are found throughout Wisconsin. They prefer open grasslands, farmlands, and forests. However, foxes are very adaptable, and it is not uncommon to see foxes living in suburban or urban areas in Milwaukee. Foxes make dens out of underground burrows, hollow trees, logs, or covered areas. In urban areas, foxes will den under decks, porches, and sheds.
When do foxes have babies?
Red and grey foxes are monogamous and will mate for life, with mating occurring from January to March. The gestation period is about two months, with young born from March to May. Foxes have one litter per year. The average litter size is 3 to 5 pups. Fox pups are fully weaned when they are about three months old and are able to hunt on their own when they are four months old. The pups leave their mother in the autumn.
How long do foxes live?
The average lifespan of a fox in the wild is three to four years. Coyotes and bobcats prey upon foxes, but humans pose the greatest threat to this species. Automobiles, shooting, improper trapping, and farm equipment tend to be the major causes of death.
What does fox poop look like?
Fox droppings are similar to coyote droppings but smaller. The appearance of the scat depends upon the fox’s diet and may include bones, fur, feathers, or seeds.
What do fox tracks look like?
Foxes have four toes on their hind feet and five on their front feet. The fifth digit on the forelimb is called a dew and does not leave a noticeable mark. Foxes have semi-retractile claws that usually appear in their tracks as small dots above the toe pad impressions.
Grey fox tracks are slightly smaller than red fox tracks. A red fox’s pawprint is about 1.5 to 2.5 inches long and wide. A grey fox’s pawprint is about 1.25 to 1.75 inches long and wide. The hind pawprints are often slightly smaller. Like coyote tracks, fox tracks tend to run in a straight line. A fox’s hind foot may also overlap the track of its front foot.
Illustration by Dan Goodman
Illustration by Dan Goodman