Red foxes are solitary predators that consume rodents, rabbits, birds, and other small game. However, the food that they consume can be as varied as their natural habitat. Fish, frogs, and even worms are all favorites of foxes. Foxes will opportunistically consume trash and pet food if they live among humans.

The fox’s thick tail, like that of a cat, helps it stay in balance, but it also has other uses. When communicating with other foxes, a fox uses its tail—also known as its “brush”—as a signal flag and as a warm cover in cold weather.

Additionally, foxes use scent posts—urinating on rocks or trees to announce their presence—to communicate with one another.

Foxes meet to mate in the winter. The vixen, or female, typically gives birth to two to twelve pups in a litter. Red foxes are actually brown or gray at birth. By the end of the first month, a new red coat usually forms, but some red foxes have golden, reddish-brown, silver, or even black coats. Before they can go out on their own in the fall, both parents take care of their children during the summer.

Although they are not extensively hunted for sport, red foxes are frequently killed as rabies carriers or destructive pests.