Yellowstone's Red Fox

RED FOX … (Vulpes vulpes) is usually the most elusive and mysterious of Yellowstone’s Three Dog Day canids, being as varied and nuanced in their color phases and morphs as Red-tailed Hawks. But they can usually be distinguished from our two other canids by their smaller stature, a reddish yellow coat that’s somewhat darker on the back and shoulders, with black socks on their lower legs and a white tip on their tails. “Cross” phases of the Red Fox (a dark cross on their shoulders) have been reported in recent years in Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley and Canyon areas, and a lighter-colored Red Fox has been seen in the park at elevations above 8,000 feet. While most foxes in the lower 48 states (especially in the eastern and plains states) are a NON-NATIVE subspecies from Europe introduced in the 1700s and 1800s for fox hunts and fur farms – many that survived the hunt or escaped the fur farms proliferated and headed westward – there are three NATIVE subspecies that exist at high elevations – the Sierra (V. v. necatar), Cascade (V. v. cascadensis) and Rocky Mountains (V. v. macroura) – and are collectively called Mountain Foxes. Yellowstone’s Mountain Fox is of the Rocky Mountains variety, but just like their phases and morphs little is known about any of these three subspecies. While the average lifespan of foxes in the wild is 3-7 years, in Yellowstone they live up to 11 years of age. Enjoy the mysterious foxes of Yellowstone! — at the Glacier Eratics of Yellowstone's Northern Tier.