Grey vs. Red Fox

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Chetty

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Trappers and predator hunters now the differences in characteristics and habits of these two species of fox. The color difference is obvious, but what else makes them so much different?
 
Reds prefer forest, grays prefer areas with lots of "border areas" between cuts, forest and fields. Or vice versa. I think it's vice versa.

 
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On the East coast, at least in Maryland, the grays are mostly nocturnal. When calling I used to get almost all reds during the day and almost all grays at night.

Jack
 

The red fox is more dog like and the gray is somewhat cat like. Red fox have a dog-like track while a gray is more rounded like a cat, and smaller.

At a coyote bait site, I have observed red fox stealing small pieces of bait, carrying it off a distance and burying it, then returning over and over for the same. Grays usually eat the bait, or carry it off to eat it. I haven't seen a gray bury it like the reds do. Grays have even been known to climb trees, but trees that have somewhat of a slant to them and not straight up.

The red fox is more prone to open country, while the gray is a forest critter.

Red fox are more skittish when called, and grays will many times come charging in full of fire at a fox pup distress.

Both are very nice small predators.

Here's an example of a red stealing and burying bait.

Click the photo to see the video.




 
Reds have long canine like legs, while a grey's legs are short similar to a feline's.
Grey's seem to have a heavier skin, making the easier to skin and stretch.
 
The eyes on a grey tend to be much smaller and closer together at night than those of a red. The greys also come in typically bobbing and bouncing with jerky movements. The reds seem to track more level and constant and almost appear to glide along. Greys will forget wind many times, especially with a grey fox pup distress. Reds will work my wind harder than a coyote many times. Reds seem more tolerant of houses and farm activity. Greys seem to stay farther away from people and stick to the brush and woods more.
 
That is some cool video 6mm06, thanks for sharing.

Good info from you two home boys! You are right about that bobbin and bouncing, you must have observed a few coming in huh? LOL
 
Originally Posted By: Pruson

Good info from you two home boys! You are right about that bobbin and bouncing, you must have observed a few coming in huh? LOL

Just a couple
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. Had this old gal try to glide by tonight. Knew she was a red before the scope even hit her. Eyes moved horizontal like they were on a string and she wore out the corn field trying to work my wind. A grey would have just bum rushed me and tried to get in my lap
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Another thing I forgot to mention that I have really noticed this year on the red foxes. Several times now I have killed or shot at one and left the area for a few hours only to come back and call in another in the same general area. The first time I thought it was a fluke. I've done it 3 times now. Something to ponder
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All of the above and...gray's are meaner. Had both as pets. You cannot tame a gray, but a red actually makes a pretty nice little pet. They just don't like you to grab them and pick them up like you would a puppy or cat. Grays will take refuge in a hole in the ground but they don't den. A gray will just go out in thick cover and lay down, even to have pups. Reds, at least the ones around here, almost always den and whelp pups in an old groundhog hole. Grays of course can climb a tree and that is why reds were brought here from Europe in the first place....they can't.
I always heard that gray's and red's wont live together in the same area and that the gray will always kill or run off the red's. I don't know if that is true because in the last few years I have had several trail cameras set continuously and see red's and gray's often within the same hour. That is both in Md. as well as the mountains of Va. I even have pictures of coyotes and fox in the same hour...of course the coyotes might have been hunting the foxes.
Red's smell similar to a skunk and you can smell it in the woods if one is near. Lastly, I have never seen a gray fox with the mange but have seen many red's that had not a hair on them because of the mange.
 
Many good points made here in all of the posts. Twice I've seen a red fox actually chasing a grey, only a few feet behind and trying hard to catch up.
I've also noticed that reds like to den and have their pups in and around abandoned farm buildings, sheds, etc.
One thing is for sure; a fox is just not a fox, reds and greys are so much different from one another.
 
Here Reds prefer semi-open, grays like woods

Originally Posted By: SgtScroungeReds prefer forest, grays prefer areas with lots of "border areas" between cuts, forest and fields. Or vice versa. I think it's vice versa.

 
I see grays and reds in my back yard where we dump the table scraps. The grays are rarely seen in the day light but the reds are seen every other day around mid morning or mid afternoon.
 
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