A red fox question

[Kathy in MD]

I have been watching a pair of Red Fox courting for about one-half hour. The male would proudly sit high over the female, who was in a hunched sitting position looking up submissively at him. They would move about, lie in the sun, and just enjoy courting. All of a sudden they took off in a run, followed close behind by another male. I watched them running to and fro for about one-half hour longer before losing track of them.

On Saturday from 6:00 AM until noon I watched a fox go by the house about a dozen different times before I did some research and realized it was mating season.

My question is: will the two males fight, one killing another to win the female’s heart or will the one male just move on to find his own mate?

[Tad]

I couldn't tell you an answer, I see three fox around my barn I can say that all three would be killed. Dureing the fur bearer season of course!

[jackie c]

I know the answer to this, they scream at each other!!! Have a listen, its quite loud, I don't know if they fight afterwards though.

[Grandmotherbear]

It is rare for males to fight to the death. If they don't win by "posturing" and displays, they have a trial fight. If one is outclassed, he usually flees then (he who fights and runs away, lives to win another day)...Despite our Victorian ancestors beliefs about social Darwinsim in the woods, most herd leaders are old females, the females tend to do the choosing more than the males, some males mimic sub,issive "female" behavoir to slip past the alpha males and get a little sympathy from the ladies in the harems- etc, etc. And yes, there is "divorce" amongst monogamous mated animals, which may be what you are observing. Read "the myth of monogamy" and "Divorce among the seagulls" for ethologits take on animal courtship.

[Little Quacker in OR]

They are wonderful to watch aren't they? There is a dog "cross fox" here that, when he is rejected by the female comes to my gates and courts my red cattle dog female! LOL They sure do have strange voices...always sound like they need a cough drop! LOL

I saw one heading out of my moms pasture one summer day and it looked up and saw me and my dog coming down the draw(I had been watching a nice sized herd of about thirty deer)..the fox was so startled that it zipped away from me and the dog and ran right under the hooves of all of those deer who were gathering to jump the pasture fence! That was the funniest thing I had ever seen and that was a messy fox that finally got out from under those does and headed up into the hills! LOL

LQ