A Widely Varied Diet:

 

The diet of the red fox is extremely varied. The red fox is considered an omnivore meaning that it will eat both plants an animals. As both a predator and scavenger, the red fox will hunt for small prey but also will eat carrion. 

The red fox can hardly be called a picky eater. It is for this reason called an opportunistic feeder meaning that it will eat pretty much whatever is available. Diet of the red fox varies according to what is available in the habitat in which the fox lives and seasonally. On average, the fox requires 500 grams of food daily to survive.  

 

When a red fox goes out to hunt the primary food item it is will search for is small rodents such as voles or mice. The secondary food items it will go after are birds, rabbits and hares, porcupines, raccoons, insects and other invertebrates. Foxes do not limit themselves to only eating meat, however. Fruit and vegetable matter can make up a huge portion of the red fox diet. In some places, fruit may make up 100% of what foxes consume, especially in autumn. Commonly consumed fruits include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, persimmons, mulberries, apples, plums, grapes, and acorns.    

 

The red foxes diet, like the diets of many other mammals, varies seasonally. In fall and winter the red fox is like to eat a great quantity of small mammals, mostly rodents and leporids. In the spring and summer time, foxes eat more berries, insects and invertebrates, and nesting waterfowl (eggs and chicks). 

 

In the minds of some people the red fox has a bad reputation because of its tendency to 'chicken theive'. Penned poultry is an easy target for a fox. This is one of the reasons that farmers have a low opinon of the red fox. Some farmers, however, do not mind foxes living on or near their farms. Rodents can be very destructive to crops. Having a small fox population around the farm is a means of keeping the rodent population to a minimum. 

 

If living in urban areas or around human habitation, the red fox will eat garbage and pet food. It has also become very common for the red fox living in a town or city to be fed by humans. 

 

Hunting:

 

The red fox is nocturnal and commonly hunts for prey at dawn and dusk. Regardless of this preference, it is not uncommon to see foxes active and even foraging for food during the day. Foxes prefer to hunt solo, but at times will hunt together if food resources are plentiful. Foxes have well-developed senses of sight, smell and hearing. The fox's good sense of hearing and large ears are its most important tool when trying to detect prey. The red fox is capable of hearing very low-frequency sounds which is helpful when trying to detect rodents under grass, snow, or even underground. A fox that is hunting will locate prey by sound. When ready, foxes will pounce upon their prey by jumping high into the air and directing their flight and landing point with their long tail. Foxes are very possessive of their food. This is likely why they typically hunt alone. A fox will attempt to fight off other animals or foxes who try to steal food items. The fox's acute sense of smell allows it to smell young prey or eggs in hidden nests. Sometimes the fox must wait patiently and completely still for the right moment to pounce. At other times the fox will hear the sound of an animal underground and begin digging to reach the prey. 

 

Foxes sometimes kill more prey than they will eat, especially during the breeding season. Usually surplus is stored away for a snack at a later time, potentially when there is less prey available or the fox has an unsuccessful hunt.  

 

When young foxes are born, they are blind and completely dependent on their parents for everything, including nourishment. Young are weaned at one month. It is at this point that the mother fox (vixen) will begin feeding her pups regurgitated food. Eventually, both the vixen and dog fox (father fox) teach their young how to handle prey by catching and presenting live prey to their pups to play with and practice on. Approximately three months after birth, pups are able to hunt on their own.