Kit or Swift Fox? Pics

Dultimatpredator

Dultimatpredator

Well-known member
I shot the one laying by my a390 last year. It was around the size of an average squirrel at most. The latter of the two was about 2ce its size I shot last week. Maybe the size of a an extremely small small house cat. Around 3-4 lbs. They were both harvested in AZ. I always see them this time of year a night in the area jogging accross the road but never in the day light accept for these 2 along with a pair of others chasing and barking at each other with the hair up on their backs on my very first trip out. They sounded axactly like turkeys yelping. Neat little animals! I always figured they were Kit fox untill someone posted something about Swift Foxes. I googled swift fox and they look the same. Are Kits and swift Fox the same like just another name like Couger and Mt Lion? I assume the smaller one is a juvinile Kit and not a Swift. How do you tell the difference? Both Kits right?
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Did some more reading, It sound like swift foxes are darker in color and look more like a miniture grey fox.



Pretty sure they are the same thing.
 
I am no expert but the NDOW has a small booklet in there office for free that names all game animals in NV and a short paragraph about each.....
In that booklet it lists the Kit Fox like this:

KIT FOX (Swift Fox)

Like saying Cougar and Mt. Lion.
 
Yup, pretty much the same exact thing with different geographical locations. Down here they are called kits up north in Wyoming they call them swifts.
 
Yep Crapshoot, they are both the same critter in the Peterson Field Guide to north American Mammals. Depends on where you live as to what you call them. It has been said the kit has bigger ears? lol.
 
Brian8,
in the two articles that you tagged they used the same photo of each animal. Check it out. Part way down on the left.
DaFUnk
 
Quote:
Brian8,
in the two articles that you tagged they used the same photo of each animal. Check it out. Part way down on the left.
DaFUnk



o... haha by bad. Goes to show how reliable Wikipedia is...
 
I have shot a few this year here in AZ and the fox on the left is most defiantly a kit fox. The ones I have shot are significantly smaller than a gray fox. The fox on the right has the correct coloring but it is much larger in length and thicker than all I have seen and shot. I guess it was a grand daddy of the kits.

Most of mine have been seen or shot down in the Tucson area. Where were those two taken?
 
Cant give up my spot but they are about a 45 minute to an hourd drive from sky harbor airport. I firgured the 2nd is large for a kit. I have seen alot running around but never this big.
 
This is the largest kit fox I have taken. Much larger than any other I have personally seen.
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Same fox with 2 others that are of more normal size for the area.
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Thank god I used a shotgun. Nice melon shot there! It looks like it swallowed a grenade. Crapshoot, what bullets were you using? I know they are fragile little guys but I have a feeling if I used anything over a shotgun or 22lr their going to open up like that. 3" BBs absolutely destroyed the front legs on the smaller one. Appreciate all the feedback, you dont see alot of pics or posting on these little guys.
 
The large one with the face that looks like a banana peal was shot with a 32gr v-max froma Tac20. The others were shot with an HMR and 12gauge #4 birdshot.
 
dulti....here in southeastern NM I've encountered a few....ours seem to be a little less furry than your example.
I got curious and called game&fish in santa fe and chatted with a predator tech/gent/whatever. He said there's been quite a discussion among exspurts over the years and most of the exspurts have sorta tossed their hands in the air and proclaimed them to be the same.

Whatever genetic differences they had is getting diluted in our region because they inter-breed like crazy.

I toss rocks at'em when they come in....dull-witted or easy or just plain dinky dau...i don't know. They are cute tho. If you watch'em long enough around a denning site,it gets down right amusing. They dote on one another like newly weds. Acrobatic as well while snaring grasshoppers in mid air.
 
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