Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
together, feet aimed at its prey in an effort to pin the hapless rodent to the ground. If successful, the fox
either crunches down with its sharp teeth to kill the rodent, which it then gulps down, or carries its prey
to a spot where it can play with it before administering the coup de grâce; in either event, this is very
catlike behavior.
Although foxes are capable of leaping fifteen feet or more with considerable accuracy, most of their
hunting jumps are much shorter—three to six feet. In a way, these shorter leaps are more spectacular
than the longer ones, because the fox moves in a higher, narrower arc, ascending almost vertically and
then plunging sharply downward in the same fashion.
The first time I observed a mousing fox, I initially didn't know what to make of it. The creature was
on the far side of a field from me, and periodically it jumped high in the air to come down front feet
first. The first thought that crossed my mind was that it might be rabid, although it seemed rather too
vigorous for a rabid animal. Then, after several unsuccessful attempts, the fox came up with a mouse in
its mouth, and the light suddenly dawned!
More recently, I observed a fascinating variation of this behavior. It was winter, and we had had a
light rain that formed a rather hard, somewhat translucent crust of ice. A mousing fox that could either
see or hear a rodent beneath the crust was performing its normal mousing leap over and over in a series
of unsuccessful attempts to break through the crust. Periodically it moved about, no doubt in search
of alternate prey—then repeated the futile series of jumps. I finally had to leave and never did learn
whether the fox ever succeeded in its ill-starred quest.
Even if this fox was unsuccessful for two or three days because of the icy crust, it still had a good
chance of surviving, because, when hunting is good, foxes cache surplus food by burying it. Unlike
some mammals, red foxes cache each mouthful of surplus food in a different location, and these caches
are often widely scattered. Extensive research has revealed that foxes retrieve and eat most of this
cached food, finding each cache mainly by an extraordinary memory for its exact location. The fox's
keen sense of smell also helps it locate caches, especially if the fox recalls only the approximate loca-
tion of the cache, or if the site is covered by several inches of snow.
Foxes are also quick to learn where goodies come from, and some soon learn to follow a mower at
haying time in order to snap up mice and voles killed or injured by the mower or deprived of the thick
grass cover that makes them difficult to hunt. In fact, I've had some wonderful personal experiences in
this regard, looking behind to find a fox trailing the haybine at what it regarded as a safe distance and
gobbling up mice. The memory of one young fox, in particular, stands out. Following the haymower
quite closely, it gorged itself on mice and voles until it could hold no more. Then it simply curled up
like a tired child sated with goodies in a candy shop and fell asleep in the mowed field in full view of
all!
Red foxes also exhibit at least two other types of hunting behavior. When a fox sights a small bird or
tree squirrel on the ground, it employs a technique quite different from that used in mousing. Crouching
very low, the fox stalks closer, apparently less concerned with being totally silent than with remaining
invisible to the prey as long as possible. As it draws nearer to its prey, the fox speeds up its approach
