Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus)
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The Gray Fox is more common within the urban area of Austin than many people realize. Gray Foxes travel throughout our city along the greenbelts, which act as fox highways. It is nocturnal, which explains why it is rarely seen, but is sometimes encountered early in the morning. These foxes are surprisingly nonchalant about human encounters and often show no sign of fear, calmly disappearing into the undergrowth with barely a sound.
Being very agile, gray foxes are the only canids in the United States that regularly climb trees, and they sometimes prefer to rest up on a branch or even the occasional telephone pole. They eat just about anything rabbit-sized or smaller, including scorpions, stinger and all. They can make dog-like barks and yelps. They are a highly adaptable small carnivore with a wide range throughout much of the United States.
The following picture shows a female Gray Fox with three of her kits, which usually number four. The fox had denned beneath a temporarily uninhabited hunting cabin out in the Texas hill country.
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class: Mammalia / order: Carnivora / family: Canidae / genus: Urocyon / species: cinereoargenteus
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