Gray fox is a fox with a grizzled gray coat and a bushy, black-tipped tail. Its legs and the sides of its neck and ears are rusty-orange. The gray fox is also called the tree fox, because it climbs trees.
Gray foxes are found from southern Canada to northern South America. They live in a variety of habitats, including hardwood forests, woodlands, dense shrub lands, and rocky desert areas. They often shelter in hollow trees and logs or under brush piles and rock ledges.
Gray foxes are mainly nocturnal (active at night). They eat a wide variety of foods, including rodents, rabbits, birds, insects, fruits, and nuts. They will search for food on the ground or in trees.
Each year, a female gray fox gives birth to a litter of one to seven pups about 60 days after mating. Gray foxes live 1 to 3 years in the wild, but they can live up to 15 years in captivity.
The body of a gray fox measures from 19 to 28 inches (48 to 71 centimeters) in length. Its tail is 11 to 17 inches (28 to 43 centimeters) long. Males weigh about 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms). Females weigh slightly less.
Bobcats, coyotes, golden eagles, and great horned owls prey on gray foxes. To escape predators, gray foxes will climb trees. Distemper, a contagious disease of dogs, kills many gray foxes. Gray foxes are also trapped for their fur in some areas. A closely related species, the island fox, is found only on the Channel Islands near the coast of southern California.
