A Tail of Two Foxes

The West Virginia Division of Natural Resources seeks better understanding of gray and red fox populations in the Mountain State.

This story was originally published in the November 2024 issue of Wonderful West Virginia. To subscribe, visit wonderfulwv.com.

Written by Dawn Nolan

Among West Virginia’s diverse array of wildlife, there are at least 70 different mammals that make their home in our hills. Surprisingly, however, only two are foxes.

The gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and red fox (Vulpes vulpes) are both part of the order Carnivora and family Canidae—although the red fox is considered the only “true fox” of the two because it belongs to the genus Vulpes. On a global scale, the gray fox is an American species, found mostly in North and Central America as well as some parts of South America. The red fox, on the other hand, has a more global presence, thriving in Europe, Asia, Australia, and parts of Africa as well as North America.

“They occur statewide, and in many places, they overlap,” says Holly Morris, a certified wildlife biologist and Furbearer and Small Game Project Leader for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. According to Morris, gray foxes are most commonly found in woodland and shrubland habitats, while red foxes prefer a more open setting, like fields, brushy edges, and farmland. “Red foxes are very adaptable and can even be seen in neighborhood settings.”

Similar, but Different

Although it is not unheard of to come upon a fox in a residential environment, Morris explains that the creatures are typically wary of humans and try to avoid interactions with people. “They aren’t going to be seen as frequently as, say, deer. They’re not going to be coming into your backyard and hanging out in your garden or anything like that,” she says. “You might get some quick glimpses of them here and there, but they’re not going to lollygag around.”  

Like many animals, the most common reason for a fox to be seen outside of its natural habitat is the attraction of a food source. Both gray and red foxes are opportunistic foragers, and they consume everything from small rodents, rabbits, and birds to insects, fruits, and berries. “For instance, if you’ve got a brushy field nearby, it might have a lot of mice or moles, things like that, that they can prey on,” explains Morris. “Or, if it’s a different type of setting, maybe there are rabbits. But, usually, it’s because there’s food, and that’s why they’re hanging around closer to people.” In some instances, if they are not deterred from an area and have access to a reliable food source like rodents or fruits, foxes can become more accustomed to humans and ignore their presence overall.

As their respective names indicate, gray foxes primarily exhibit gray fur; however, they also have highlights of red on their necks, sides, and legs. “To a novice, gray foxes are sometimes misidentified as red due to these rufous, or reddish-brown, patches,” says Morris. Red foxes’ coats are commonly bright red-orange in color. They have black ears, white-tipped tails, and black legs and feet. “They almost look like they’re wearing stockings. That’s pretty unique to them.”

If the coloring and markings don’t give you confidence in separating the two from one another, size can be a useful indicator of which is which. Red foxes are the larger of the two and can weigh up to about 30 pounds. Adults are typically 14–20 inches tall and 12–46 inches long, their tail making up a significant portion of that. Slightly smaller with shorter legs and stockier build, gray foxes weigh 7–13 pounds on average, stand 12–16 inches tall, and run 30–45 inches long.

Capturing the Numbers

While gray foxes are native to West Virginia, Morris says that red foxes are technically naturalized to the state. “They came from Europe, and they’ve colonized the area well and are so very common now that they’re treated as a native species.”

There are no concrete estimates of the numbers of red and gray foxes found within West Virginia, although information does come in—from trappers. “We don’t have a good measure of those populations other than indices of abundance, and that’s just basically what’s being taken every year,” says Morris. “That’s not really reflective of what’s out on the landscape, because trapping recreationally has somewhat declined through the years.”

The WVDNR annually conducts voluntary trapper effort surveys and mandatory surveys of those who are trapping in wildlife management areas. Morris refers to these as “traffic-related surveys” that are focused specifically on trapping efforts—how many animals were caught and how long it took the trappers to catch them. “That helps us calculate things like ‘catch per unit effort,’ or how much effort it actually takes to catch a fox,” she says. “That can kind of give us an index of abundance.”

However, a downfall of this method for indexing abundance is that trapper efforts can fluctuate with fur prices. “Fox pelts hold value economically, as their pelts can be prepared and sold on the worldwide market,” Morris explains. Changes in market values lead to changes in trapper engagement and effort—and that can skew the data.

To counter that, the WVDNR also asks participants in its spring gobbler and bowhunter surveys to record the number of red and gray foxes they observe in the field. The data collected from these surveys give WVDNR biologists and game managers an idea of fox abundance that isn’t directly tied to trapping efforts.

Understanding Challenges the Grays Face

As a whole, the red fox population is relatively stable, Morris says, but the gray fox population has declined, particularly in the Eastern United States. In addition to habitat loss due to urbanization and to the maturing of early successional habitat the gray fox prefers, a contributing factor is that gray foxes are in competition with coyotes over habitat and resources. Gray foxes are also preyed upon by coyotes.

“We didn’t really have coyotes in West Virginia until the ’70s and ’80s, and it could be that coyotes are just better suited to some of these habitats,” she says. “The coyote, he really doesn’t have a lot of preferences. He’s pretty nimble. He’s almost like a deer. He can go wherever he wants.”

Diseases such as distemper and parasites are another factor, and the WVDNR is exploring opportunities to participate in studies related to that issue. “We are hoping to get on board with a gray fox health study that would involve collecting gray fox carcasses from either roadkill or trappers and performing necropsies on those animals to see what their health is and whether they had any diseases or parasites or any other factors that may be contributing to population decline,” says Morris.

Many states are conducting their own research on the matter, and collaborative projects on the horizon will shed light on the causes behind the gray fox decline. “It’s of national interest, and we’re all kind of working collectively to figure out what’s going on,” Morris says. “If there’s something we can do to reverse the trend—and there may not be something that we can do, because nothing at this point seems to indicate that hunting or trapping is causing any decline—we want to do it.”