FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Santa Catalina Island Fox.- — Urocyon catalincB Merriam. 

 Tail longer than in littoralis and with different skull charac- 

 ters. Total length, 30 inches; tail vertebrae, 11.4 inches; 

 hind foot, 4.5 inches; ear from crown, 2.5 inches. Found 

 only on Santa Catalina Island, Santa Barbara group, 

 California, 



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The Gray Fox looks very much like his red relative, aside 

 from color, but is a trifle longer in the leg. Although the 

 ranges of the Gray and Red Foxes overlap, the Gray Foxes 

 are more abundant in the warmer parts of North America and 

 even are found on deserts, while the Red Foxes show more 

 preference for the cool regions. The Gray Fox often climbs 

 up into low trees, another point in which he differs from the 

 Red Fox, 



The Gray Fox is found in various types of environment. 

 In the eastern part of the United States and in parts of the 

 West it is a forest-dwelling mammal, but in the Southwest it 

 lives on the arid, open plains where it finds sufficient cover 

 in the cactus and other desert vegetation. It is also found in 

 brushy areas where thickets of low shrubbery afford hunting 

 and hiding places. In favorable localities in the West it 

 occurs in considerable numbers and is a common animal. It 

 is chiefly nocturnal, but may hunt by day occasionally. 



The Gray Fox does not possess the cunning of the Red 

 Fox and not only is easier to trap but is far less suspicious of 

 man and easier to observe. He will not run before hounds as 

 vv^ell as the Red Fox and "trees" when close pressed or may 

 seek refuge in some underground burrow. If the Dogs are 

 slow the Gray Fox has little difficulty in losing them in rough 

 and broken country. This Fox is said to have a series of 

 dens, which are caves, fissures in cliffs, or hollow trees. 

 Sometimes it digs its own burrows in the ground. These 

 dens are used as refuges from enemies or as places to await 

 the passing of severe winter weather. In the home den the 

 mother Fox raises a litter of three to five young which are 

 bom from March to April. After the young are old enough 

 to eat solid food the male Fox assists in bringing food to the den. 



The fur of the Gray Fox does not take high rank in the fur 

 trade and is much inferior to that of the Red Fox, 



The calls of the Gray Fox, barks or yaps, resemble those of 

 the Red Fox, but are a trifle coarser in timbre. 



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