What is it- Fox or Coyote?

[spurz3]

Okay strange question, but how can I tell the difference? We have a pair of large sized red fox or small coyotes hanging out at our farm together.

Now I’ve seen the small red foxes that have the white tip on the brush and those for sure were foxes, but these have me stumped. They look too small for coyotes- plus they’re red, but they’re much bigger than the other foxes I’ve seen. They have black thin legs, but are quite long. I’d say the one is about 18" and the other who is much lighter is 24" tall. No masks that I can tell and they don’t make a lot of noise. They also don’t mess with the cats- so far anyway. I just watched the smaller one walk partially into the barn then I think he saw the cats and jumped backwards. He then turned and saw me watching him from the house. He looked at me for the longest time, then trotted off into the shadows. Yesterday I saw one of them trotting through the pasture carrying a rabbit. It was daylight and it was for sure red, but made me think of a coyote. My entire family has seen them recently. I think they’re living in one of the groundhog dens by the creek. Thankfully we don’t have chickens. lol

What do you think they are- fox, coyote, or a mix? I’d be interested in any opinions… I’ll try to snap a picture next time I see them.

[xeroxchick]

They sound like Coyote. If you can see a track it is pretty easy to tell - red fox have a track with a hairy line horizontally through it, gray fox have a track with no nail marks that looks almost like a cat. Coyote’s look a lot like a dog’s but are longer and narrower in the middle two toes like the back foot of a hound - I’d go find some tracks, get some binocs and a bag of popcorn! Throw some chicken necks out near a good place for footprints. Fun!

[JSwan]

You can buy inexpensive books on animal tracking from Amazon.

I bought one on mammal tracking that was pretty good -and another one purely on scat.

Yeah - I read about sh**.

[S1969]

We had a similar situation here last spring and I confirmed that it was a coyote with my binoculars - even though it wasn’t far away I just was not sure because of the color and size. It was the most unusual reddish color, in fact, nearly identical to the color of a spring fawn which was another thing I thought I might have seen. Some coyotes are quite small, surprisingly so. I have seen larger ones, too, so I wonder if the small ones might be last year’s pups out on their own?

I’d love to see a picture. Also agree about looking at the tracks carefully.

[lesson_junkie]

Looking forward to pics. We had a pair of coyotes on the farm a couple of years ago. They cleaned out the rabbits and moved on. We saw them often on the driveway. They were cheeky, not a bit shy. It made me nervous for my cats, so I did hike the farm pack on them once when trail riding.(2JRTs and 3 chow crosses) That made them a little more respectful!

[Painted_Wings]

You are wise to be afraid for your farm cats. I have lost several barn cats to coyote.

[Mudroom]

hmmm, the specifics that spurz mentioned were red color and thin black legs. No mention of brown/gray/tan. That sounds fox like to me. It will be interesting to hear what the tracks show.

[throwurheart]

And take care with small dogs - our neighborhood recently lost a Yorkie. Owners were walking it off leash on the horse trail, and a coyote ran through, picked up the Yorkie, and kept going.

[jetjocky]

Gray fox, perhaps? Do you have lots of woods nearby? Grays tend to like woods.

[eqsiu]

Do you know what a fox squirrel looks like? If the red was like a red grizzle on grey then I would say coyote. If it was red red then fox.

[bird4416]

Here is a pic of a gray fox.
http://s190.photobucket.com/albums/z257/americanwildlife/Mammal/Z-PattiMcNeal-grayfox.jpg

[AnotherRound]

Sure does sound fox like to me, in color and behaviour. I would try to detect the tracks, to find out, like copygirl said! That would be fun!

[AnotherRound]

My firlfirend had a red fox family den in her outdoor ring! they did it because there was so much activity, it was a guaranteed safety spot for the kits, as no predators would be bothering them in the ring, we think. Its was really funny to watch the mom fox come to the front of the den, and watch the horse traffic for a chance to run across the ring and go hunting! It was hysterical! She would ONLY leave her kits when we were using the ring and riding. If we left and the ring was empty, she would come arunnin back from where ever and stay in her hole with the kits. She sure was paranoid, yet so trusting of us, she chose to den near human activity because it was safer for the kits! It was really interesting.

Anyhoo…:eek:

[Eventer55]

On Long Island we had a pair of foxes and the female sounded like what you described. When I saw them side by side I was amazed at the difference. In full coat the male was striking and the female was much less so, but still fox-like.

[wateryglen]

Could that be??

Bird4416! Is there any possibility that your grey is a Swift fox?! Are they ever seen in the east? Your grey doesn’t look like the ones around here. Especially the facial markings. Plus here in Va. we have a lot of what we call “red sided greys” or reds that have a LOT of gray. Mostly you can ONLY tell from the presence or lack of a white tip. Greys are smaller here also.
I have a new one that I see crossing or standing on my driveway at least once a week. We came home one night and he was sitting on a stump with his tail curled around his feet like a cat just watching. I swear he posed!! We stopped and admired him in our headlights and he finally took off casually. They are so easy to mistake for cats!!
So now I officially have coyotes, reds & greys. Altho the coyotes are usually only passing thru and foxes are permanent residents.

I’d like to recommend a TERRIFIC book “How To Spot A Fox” by J. David Henry lended to me by a wonderful friend. Did you know that greys are originally from Central America and Mexico and have moved up to the US?

[spurz3]

So it’s taken so long to post again- thought I was dying from the flu- thankfully still alive… barely. Thanks for all the posts.

Anyway the good news- they are for sure foxes. I got a good up close and personal meeting with one of them. I happened to look out the front window and saw my mom’s 26 year old mare laying down and did a double take at a lump of red about 3 feet from her. I didn’t really think much of it but I decided to look anyway and walked quietly down the sidewalk, across the driveway and still it hadn’t moved. But by that point I could easily see it was a fox. It was curled up with his nose covered by his tail. What a beauty! I went to the fence line and it still hadn’t moved. The mare got up and shook and I just stood there about 4 feet from it watching it sleep. I hated to wake it, but wanted to be sure it was okay so I whistled and nothing. I finally spoke and it jumped up like it was on fire, turned to face me and then ran as fast as it could towards the creek then stopped for a second look before trotting off into the brush. I wish I had taken my camera with me, but I really didn’t think I’d get to even get out the door before it ran away. It would have been the perfect opportunity. This morning, my mom (lives next door) went out to feed and took a pic of one of them sitting on the manure pile but it’s not a great shot.

I’ve seen them several times. One night we had one of them on our porch. We heard this odd bark and a bang and when I went to the door I saw one of the cats on the porch swing (the bang) and the fox hiding behind the maple tree. My cat didn’t seem scared of him though, but my cat isn’t that much smaller than the fox. I just hope foxes don’t eat cats. I have two smaller girl cats who are pretty lilly livered.

Anyway, the most sightings usually include a horse nearby. They seem to enjoy the horses company, especially the old red mare for some reason.

Great picture of the grey fox- do you have one of a red? I’m thinking this one had black ear and tail tips, but I could be mistaken, I’ve been delerious since I saw it. lol
Spurz