MAMMALS OF MARYLAND 



139 



from the north. The European red foxes, which may never really 

 have been well established in the United States, were perhaps swamped 

 by the influx of native American foxes and left no recognizable char- 

 acteristics on the present fox population in Maryland or elsewhere in 

 the Southeast. 



GRAY FOX 



Urocyon cinereoargenteus cinereoargenteus (Schreber) 



Canis cinereo argenteus Schreber, Die Saugtheire . . Thiel 2, Heft 

 13, pi. 92, 1775. 

 Type locality. — Eastern North America. 



General distrilmUon. — Distributed from southern New York and liOwer 

 Peninsula of Michigan, south to South Carolina and Tennessee, west to eastern 

 Illinois. 



Distribution in Maryland. — Occurs in all sections of the State. It is 

 more abundant, however, in the rolling hilly country of the Piedmont, 

 Ridge and Valley, and Allegheny Mountain sections than in the low, 

 flat, mashy country of the Eastern Shore section. 



Distinguishing characteristics. — Dental formula as in Canis; colora- 

 tion grizzled gray above with hairs banded with black and grayish 

 white ; inner sides of legs, sides of belly, neck, and band across chest 

 reddish brown ; belly and throat white ; chin black ; underf ur soft and 

 wooly, overlaid with short, coarse guard hairs; tail bushy, laterally 

 compressed with a concealed mane of stiff black hairs on its upper side, 

 near the base; legs short, feet equipped with well-curved claws that 

 adapt the animal for climbing; skull with temporal ridges whose 

 divergent branches enclose a lyrate area and never coalesce to form a 

 distinct, sharp central sagittal crest. 



This fox is somewhat smaller in size, has shorter legs, and is differ- 

 ently colored, than the red fox. 



Measurements. — An adult male from Washington, D.C., has exter- 

 nal measurements as follows: Total length 996; tail 356; hind foot 

 143 ; ear 71. The animal weighed 101/2 lbs. 



Six adults of both sexes from Laurel, Prince Georges County, have 

 the following cranial measurements: Basal length 112.7 (110.8- 

 114.0) ; zygomatic breadth 67.0 (63.0-70.8) ; interorbital breadth 

 24.9 (23.8-27.3) ; alveolar length of maxillary toothrow 51.6 (50.9- 

 52.9). 



There does not appear to be any appreciable size difference between 

 the sexes. 



Habitat and habits. — This animal is essentially a southern and west- 

 ern species that has apparently only recently invaded this northern 

 portion of its range (Hamilton 1943, p. 176). It prefers timbered and 

 rocky regions. Because of its relatively short legs, it has no great 



