The red fox of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, and the adjacent mainland
is probably the largest of its kind in the world, although those of
Kodiak Island and of the Mackenzie River valley are nearly as large.
Compared with its relatives of the United States, the Kenai fox is
a giant, with heavier, duller-colored coat and a huge tail, more
like that of a wolf than of a fox. The spruce and birch forests of
Alaska and the Mackenzie Valley are apparently peculiarly adapted to
red foxes, as shown by the development there of these animals--good
illustrations of the relative increase in size and vigor of animals in
a specially favorable environment.
As noted in the general account of the red foxes, the occurrence of the
black phase is sporadic, and the relative number of dark individuals
varies greatly in different parts of their range. The region about the
upper Yukon and its tributaries and the Mackenzie River basin are noted
for the number of black foxes produced, apparently a decidedly greater
proportion than in any other similarly large area. The prices for which
these black skins sell in the London market prove them to be of equal
quality with those from any other area.
Like other red foxes, the Alaskan species digs its burrows, with
several entrances, in some dry secluded spot, where both male and
female share in the care of the young. In northern wilds the food
problem differs from that in a settled country. There the surrounding
wild life is the only dependence, and varying hares, lemmings, and
other mice are usually to be had by the possessor of a keen scent
and an active body. In summer many nesting wild-fowl and their young
are easy prey, while heathberries and other northern fruits are also
available.
Winter brings a season of scarcity, when life requires the exercise of
every trained faculty. The snow-white ptarmigan is then a prize to be
gained only by the most skillful stalking, and the white hare is almost
equally difficult to secure. At this season foxes wander many miles
each day, their erratic tracks in the snow telling the tale of their
industrious search for prey in every likely spot. It is in this season
of insistent hunger that many of them fall victims to the wiles of
trappers or to the unscrupulous hunter who scatters poisoned baits.
Fortunately the season for trapping these and other fur-bearers in
Alaska is now limited by law and the use of poisons is forbidden. These
measures will aid in preserving one of the valuable natural assets of
these northern wilds.
=GRAY FOX= (=Urocyon cinereoargenteus= and its relatives)
Gray foxes average about the size of common red foxes, but are longer
and more slender in body, with longer legs and a longer, thinner tail.
They are peculiar to America, where they have a wide range--from New
Hampshire, Wisconsin, and Oregon south through Mexico and Central
America to Colombia. Within this area there are numerous geographic
forms closely alike in color and general appearance, but varying much
in size; the largest of all, larger than the red fox, occupying the New
England States.
Gray foxes inhabit wooded and brush-grown country and are much more
numerous in the arid or semiarid regions of the southwestern United
States and western Mexico than elsewhere. In parts of California they
are far more numerous than red foxes ever become. They do not regularly
dig a den, but occupy a hollow tree or cavity in the rocks, where they
bring forth from three to five young each spring. As with other foxes,
the cubs are born blind and helpless, and are also almost blackish in
color, entirely unlike the adults. The parents, as usual with all
members of the dog family, are devoted to their young and care for them
with the utmost solicitude.
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