The red fox is a fox that is widely distributed in the Eurasian continent and North America, and is mainly distributed in Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu in Japan. However, it has not been confirmed to inhabit Shikoku. Foxes are very familiar to Japanese people because they appear in old tales and nursery rhymes, and are the object of worship as a messenger of God, but there are surprisingly many people who do not know the details. The fox that lives in Hokkaido is the red fox, and this species does not live there.
Habitat
It is widely distributed from the plains of Japan’s Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu to highland forests and thickets.
Characteristic
Body length 52-76 cm, weight 4-7 kg. The coat color is usually reddish yellow or brown, and the chest and abdomen are white. The hair on the tail is long and bushy, and the tip of the tail is black. The nose is thin and pointed, and the ears are triangular and large. The limbs are shorter than dogs. It inhabits plain to highland forests and thickets, but it may also appear in agricultural lands. Be territorial and act within your territory. They rarely form a flock and often act alone. Be cautious and move agile.
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The activity time is morning and night. I am absent during the day. We eat small animals such as moles, mice and wild rabbits, but we also eat insects, earthworms and fruits. The breeding season is from December to February, and the gestation period of females is around 50 days. It gives birth to 4-5 heads at a time. Monogamy lives using burrows. They tend to make burrows in sunny forests and grasslands. Burrows have been used by parents and children for years and are used to store childbirth, childcare, and even freshly harvested food. When a child is born, the whole family raises the child, but the male leaves the parent at 7-8 months of age and disperses out of the territory. It is said that the lifespan is about 3 to 4 years in the wild and 10 years at the longest in captivity.
Endangered species
The red fox is designated as a near-threatened species. Humans are the number one enemy of foxes and are targeted for fur hunting. As a result, the population is declining and it may become extinct. Furthermore, the habitat has been destroyed by the development of wilderness and forests, and the number of red foxes is gradually decreasing. Therefore, in recent years, it has appeared in grasslands and agricultural lands that are in contact with forests, and it has also appeared in human settlements. It can also catch garbage from private homes, eat crops, and attack livestock chickens. Therefore, it is often exterminated.
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