WOW WHat a FOX

[donsgal]

Today when I was driving home a fox crossed the street in front of me and stopped on the shoulder of the road.

This was the biggest fox I have ever seen! (Wish to heck I had a camera handy). It must have weighed darn near 40 pounds.

Yeah, I know that foxes have a LOT of fur (and it has been cold at nightly lately). But this fox was easily 18 inches tall at the shoulder and dang near 5 feet long counting that huge, bushy red tail! It was a beauty!

I thought it was kind of funny to see it in an "upscale" (read lah-de-dah) neighborhood of quasi-mcmansions and Mercedes. He was headed for a patch of woods across the street that the ---- developers haven't ruined *yet*

Nice to see a little wild thing running around.

Donsgal

[chickenman]

Originally Posted by donsgal

It must have weighed darn near 40 pounds.

Red fox average 8-15 lbs and rarely reach 20. Heck 40 lbs would be a pretty respectable coyote.
Anyway, I'm not surprised you saw it where you did. It seems like ever since we've been graced with the presence of the coyote in the east, that red fox are forced to live closer to urban areas to avoid altercations with coyotes.

[Pops2]

Donsgal
it was probably a coyote. there are pictures in the Nov or Dec issue of FUR*FISH*GAME of some coyotes trapped or shot (in the USA & Canada) that had the same coloration as a nice red fox. in fact one of the trappers thought it was a red until he got close enough to dispatch it. if you get the chance to off it in Jan you might get a respectable price for it especially if you skin it for taxidermy.

[Laura]

Or perhaps it was the seldom seen prairie wolf, AKA red wolf.

[Stickywitch]

Oh, I thought you were going to show us someone cute...
preferably wearing a kilt.

[Ozarkguy]

.

Yep. I only looked here to see some "foxy" babe. hehe


Maybe it was a Coyox? Or a Foyote?


But I'm not surprised to find ANYTHING - ANYWHERE now a days. Keep building factories and subdivisions and shopping malls and, and, and..... so where's the critters to go?


Miles and miles of government forest around, yet I once saw a big cat take down a deer right in the middle of some homes. Had everywhere to roam but he found easy food there, so didn't bother to leave as the people came. The critters ARE getting more and more used to us.

So I say keep an eye on the livestock and the children, but I do like wild critters in the backyard!


""upscale" (read lah-de-dah) neighborhood of quasi-mcmansions and Mercedes" And don't you KNOW better than to go to icky neighborhoods like that?!

.

[mightybooboo]

Originally Posted by Ozarkguy

.

""upscale" (read lah-de-dah) neighborhood of quasi-mcmansions and Mercedes" And don't you KNOW better than to go to icky neighborhoods like that?!

.

Gotta agree with that.

BooBoo

[Pops2]

Laura
the red wolf is native to the SE USA not the prairie. the prairie wolf is another name for a coyote. the wife saw a red about 5 years ago. NC where we are stationed has the only known free roaming population of them about an hours drive from us.

[ladycat]

Coyotes come in several color variations, including red. Coyotes also tend to be bold. We see them trotting up and down the fencelines here right next to the roads, sometimes in broad daylight.

I'm guessing what you saw was a coyote.