AN EVALUATION OF THE RED FOX 



Thomas G. Scott 



Human interest in the red fox tends to take 

 form in several points of view. The sportsman who 

 loves the chase sees this fox as a magnificent 

 quany for the hounds; the small game hunter re- 

 sponds with concern that the fox is making inroads 

 on Ids game bag; and the poultry raiser fears the 

 fox as an enemy of his flock. And so it goes; each 

 of the several roles wliich this fox plays attracts 

 its own particular brand of attention. 



Tl»eie is a need for bringing the various in- 

 terests together for evaluation as a whole. Such an 

 approach may lead to an understanding of the red 

 fox as a complete animal, and not, in a sense, as 

 a dismembered creature. 



Economists tell us that the worth of an item 

 depends upon supply and demand. Perhaps we can 

 best begin our evaluation of tiie red fox with an ap- 

 praisal of supply and demand. Supply, in this in- 

 stance, concerns the population levels of the red 

 fox; demand represents the degree of desire or lack 

 of it for this animal on tlie part of the public. 



Red fox populations have held up remarkably 

 well in recent times. As a matter of fact, red foxes 

 have shown unusual capabilities in the severe 

 competition for survival in our civilization. Recent 

 numbers of red foxes and the numbers present be- 

 fore the arrival of white settlers cannot be com- 

 pared as a means of emphasizing this point, be- 

 cause detailed information on the fox populations 

 of early times is not available. Our understanding 

 of favorable environment for red foxes, however, 

 indicates that the opening up of forest lands and 

 the reduction or elimination of wolves and coyotes 

 favored these foxes. 



Some conception of the possible levels of 

 supply of red foxes in recent times may be ob- 

 tained from published records. On 576 square miles 

 of average range (Boone County, Iowa), a popula- 

 tion of one red fox to 1.6 square miles was esti- 

 mated for late spring in 1938 (Scott & Seiko 1939: 

 95). In 1951, in a New York locality of high pop- 

 ulations that included both red foxes and gray 

 foxes, 46.2 foxes per trapper-month were taken for 

 7.5 trapper-months on 176 square miles (Colson & 

 McKeon 1952:3). The possibility that some of these 

 foxes had moved into this area during the time it 

 was being trapped should not be overlooked. 

 McKeon (letter of July 30, 1953) reported that more 



than 95 per cent of the foxes taken during this 

 New York operation were red foxes. Higher den- 

 sities have been witnessed in more limited areas, 

 especially in late spring and summer before the 

 young of the year have dispersed from the rearing 

 areas. In Boone County, Iowa, two fox families 

 containing 4 adults and 11 cubs are known to have 

 lived witiiin a home range of approximately 3 square 

 miles (Scott 1943:444-5). Sheldon (1950:41) reported 

 an extreme case in which five litters of red fox 

 cubs were found within 200 acres; 25 foxes were 

 caught in traps witldn 100 acres in this vicinity 

 in June before the cubs had dispersed (Sheldon 

 1950:36). 



Such evidence of reproductive success shows 

 that the red fox is adapted to existence in our mod- 

 ern world. As a matter of fact, it seems evident 

 from some reports on rabies outbreaks in the east- 

 ern United States that it is fully capable of reacli- 

 ing population levels which are too high to serve 

 its own best interest. Whether viewed with favor 

 or otherwise, tlds ability to survive with such em- 

 inent success in a hostile environment constitutes 

 a factor of considerable economic significance. 



The demand for red foxes depends in part upon 

 the degree of liuman understanding and tolerance. 

 Many people who live in areas regularly occupied 

 by red foxes tend to accept them as an interesting 

 part of the environment. The number of sportsmen 

 who enjoy running foxes with hounds is usually 

 highest among these people. When foxes become 

 overabundant, there seems to be a tendency for 

 more of them to appear outside of the habitat to 

 which they are best suited. At such times the foxes 

 come into more frequent contact with people who 

 are not well acquainted with them. These people 

 are unaccustomed in philosophy or husbandry to 

 living with red foxes, and, for example, after a 

 few poultry losses occur, their fox neighbors gen- 

 erally become highly unpopular. In such instances, 

 the demand for foxes quickly goes into reverse, 

 and, interestingly enough, frequently remains so 

 long after foxes have disappeared from the 

 neighborhood. 



The demand for foxes also goes into reverse 

 when their population is swept by a rabies epizo- 

 otic. Rabies epidemics usually take place among 

 foxes that are in a state of oversupply. 



