Family CANIDAE 113 



fig. 69. The family may then move from den to den, frequently 

 occupying as many as seven separate dens before finally desert- 

 ing these underground homes. Although cubs and adults leave 

 the last den in June, they remain together as a family group 

 through the summer months. 



The red fox is celebrated for its cleverness in obtaining food, 

 but its prowess in this respect is often overrated. It tends to take 

 the foods that, within the limitations of its preferences and 

 physical abilities, are easiest to obtain. 



Where many kinds of foods are available in quantity, the 

 proportions in the annual diet are about as follows: mammals 

 (largely rabbits and mice) 45 per cent; birds 15 per cent; insects 

 20 per cent; and vegetable matter (largely fleshy fruits) 20 

 per cent. 



The occurrence of mammals in the summer and autumn diet 

 is comparatively infrequent due to increased availability of 

 fleshy fruits and insects in these seasons. Fruit may make up 

 as much as 35 per cent of the diet during some warm weather 

 months. Many kinds of insects are included in the diet, but 

 May beetles, crickets, and grasshoppers generally predominate 

 over other kinds. 



Game birds are eaten by the red fox when the opportunity 

 arises, but these birds are more difficult to obtain than most of 

 the foods in the animal's diet. 



Moles, shrews, and weasels often are killed by the red fox 

 but are left uneaten on the trails. There seems to be a par- 

 ticular lack of appetite for weasels. 



Signs. — Prints of the feet are oval in shape, fig. 26; those of 

 the front feet are about 2 inches long and 1^ inches wide, and 

 those of the hind feet are slightly smaller. On soft surfaces 

 especially, prints of the front feet show a noticeable spread 

 between the toes. The relatively slender and barlike impressions 

 of the ball pads lie behind rather than between the toe marks. 

 On mud and wet snow that are fine enough to hold the impres- 

 sions, the furrv nature of the feet may be detected. On such 

 surfaces, footprints of the red fox and the gray fox may be told 

 apart; a slender ball print is the mark of the red fox and a 

 broader one the mark of the gray. 



Track patterns made by the red fox at different gaits are 

 similar to those made by the domestic dog, except that foot- 

 prints made by a walking or trotting fox are usually in almost 



