“The kit fox is the smallest fox in North America.”

Though the dainty kit fox may look adorable, these tiny predators are actually surprisingly hardy and expertly designed to thrive in the desert climates they inhabit. Their enormous ears lend them both an exceptional sense of hearing and help disperse the desert heat from their bodies. Like many of the other creatures that inhabit the deserts of the United States and Mexico, this animal has learned to adapt their habits to the desert’s daily and seasonal heat fluctuations, and they use a network of underground burrows to conserve their energy during the hottest parts of the day.

Though they may be one of the smallest predators in North America’s deserts, they’ve managed to carve out an efficient niche within their habitats — and while there have been some concerns about population decline, the overall population seems to be stable and well-integrated into their existing habitats.

4 Incredible Kit Fox Facts!

• While the families often have overlapping habitats, the hunting schedules of different families rarely overlap.
• There’s some debate about whether or not it is a distinct species or deserves identification as a variation of the American swift fox.
• Young pups can travel up to 20 miles before settling down into their own territory distinct from that of their parents.
• They use a different vocalization for dealing with threats from predators than the growl it uses when in conflict with members of its species.

Scientific name

The scientific name for the kit fox — Vulpes macrotis — directly translates to “big-eared fox”, and it’s a pretty accurate choice. The kit fox is one of only twelve species known as true foxes — which is to say that they all belong to the genus Vulpes. Among other small species like the swift fox and Bengal fox, the kit fox is the smallest. Its ears are large for its head even by the standards of other true foxes, but they assist with thermoregulation during the extreme climate events in their desert habitats.

Appearance

Fundamentally, this animal looks quite similar to any number of other fox species — although its especially small frame and large ears make identification significantly easier. The latter facilitates both hearing and heat regulation, while their petite frames make them especially nimble and agile hunters capable of expertly stalking prey in the desert and brush valleys they inhabit. Their coat colors can vary from gray to yellow with white and black also included — a point that both distinguishes them from many other fox species and makes the desert kit fox able to naturally camouflage itself within its habitat range.

Desert kit foxes have also developed hair on their soles that allow them to function like snowshoes — dispersing the force of their body weight to prevent sinking into the sand. Ocelots have developed similar adaptations that allow them to navigate deep snow quietly and lightly. Despite being a capable survivor in their specific habitats, the facts are that most kit foxes are smaller than the average house cat.

Behavior

The behavior of the desert kit fox is largely ordained by its environment. Everything from the colors of its coat to the shape of its head has been adapted to better accommodate the heat — and they distinguish themselves from many other fox species by being primarily nocturnal. They do most of their hunting and foraging after dark, and the desert kit fox is solitary apart from cycles of mating and the process of raising pups. Males tend to be slightly larger than females, though that difference isn’t distinctive enough for a casual observer to tell the difference.

Thanks to the harsh conditions of the desert and the dangerous variety of predators that can be found there, a kit fox’s daily habits are largely determined by their burrows. Underground dens offer these animals protection from the desert heat and overnight cold, but they also keep them safe from larger animals that see them as a meal. A kit fox’s den is meticulously built and contains multiple escape routes and entrances that are dug with an entrance resembling a keyhole and are large enough to let the fox in while keeping larger predators at bay.

Though a kit fox’s range is rarely further than two miles from its current den, they’ll use multiple burrows over the course of a year. These burrows may be dug by the kit fox themselves or burrows created by other animals like prairie dogs that have been repurposed for the fox. Thanks to this quasi-nomadic nature, territories of kit foxes often overlap with little territorial friction involved. Their small appetites ensure that predators and human incursion are usually a bigger threat than competition for meals.

Habitat

While they can reach habitats as far north as Oregon, most kit foxes in the United States can be found in the southwest states. California is home to a specific population known as the San Joaquin kit fox, although there’s disagreement on whether it can be defined as a distinct subspecies. Their populations continue east into Colorado, Utah, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and the western portions of Texas. Mexican kit fox populations can be found in the west and extend downward into Central Mexico.

These animals care little about the facts of state boundaries, though they’re limited to arid environments like deserts and sparse grasslands. Their adaptations — along with competition from a wider range of species — ensure a short lifespan for the desert kit fox outside of the habitats it’s comfortable in.

Diet

Kit foxes are considered to be omnivores and scavengers, though their diet is almost exclusively carnivorous in practical reality. Rodents are their primary form of sustenance, with kangaroo rats, squirrels, and hares being the most popular dietary choices. They may also feed on lizards and birds depending on what’s available. Kit foxes may also eat insects in desperate times — and instances of them eating cacti and fruits are likely more a response to lean feeding opportunities than a legitimate preference.

They also feed on carrion when available. Despite living in the desert, kit foxes have developed internal adaptations that allow them to process water incredibly efficiently. The six ounces of food that they need to consume a day provides them with both the nutritional sustenance and the hydration that they need, and it’s rare for a kit fox to choose to actively drink water.

They do their hunting at night, a task greatly assisted by their phenomenal hearing and their strong sense of smell. The former is facilitated by their adorably oversized ears, and their natural camouflage allows them to blend in seamlessly with their surroundings. Nighttime provides them with an extra element of cover, but they sometimes venture out to hunt early in the morning or late in the afternoon as well.

Like other true foxes, they stalk their prey quietly and then pounce on them to effectively kill or immobilize them. While the constant threat of predators and the limited temporal window for hunting makes solitary hunting the sensible preference for kit foxes, they are known to stockpile caches of food by burying it and returning to it later.

Predators and threats

Though they may pose a formidable threat to rodents, kit foxes are more likely to be seen as a potential meal to other desert mammals than as a danger. Coyotes are the biggest predatory threat to kit foxes, and some estimates suggest that three out of four kit fox deaths can be associated with coyote attacks. Red foxes and feral dogs can also prey on the smaller kit fox, and they’re sometimes victimized by birds of prey like golden eagles as well.

But some of the biggest challenges faced by these animals come from humans. The San Joaquin kit fox has been on and off the endangered species list, but it consistently faces the threat of habitat destruction thanks to the expansion of industrial energy development into the once-rural territory. Off-road vehicles can destroy kit fox burrows and the young within, but there’s just as much destruction being caused by new highways and buildings fragmenting existing kit fox habitats. There are also conflicts where humans and kit foxes meet — as the rodents that tend to flock to human settlements provide an enticing promise for kit foxes who find their prior habitats uprooted entirely.

Reproduction and Life Cycle

Kit foxes are solitary throughout most of their lifespan, but they gather together into small family units while raising their young. They are monogamous, and both the mother and the father have a role to play in raising the young. Females begin looking for dens suitable for mating in September, and they’re usually met by their partner in October. Breeding happens in the winter. Gestation takes less than two months, and early spring sees the mother give birth to her litter. During the months in between, the father does almost all of the foraging and hunting for both of them.

Litters can include as few as one or as many as seven pups, and kit foxes gather into family units while raising the young. Most pups will begin to hunt with their family by an age of four months and leave the home after seven. Some will stay behind through the year to help raise the next litter of young, while the majority set out to find their own habitats. They may travel as many as 20 miles before settling on a den and a territory to call their own.

Population

The elusive nature of kit foxes makes it hard to identify their population numbers, but current estimates suggest that the world population for kit foxes is either holding steady or shrinking. While there have been attempts to break the kit fox into different subspecies, it hasn’t gained overwhelming traction. The San Joaquin kit fox is the most notable variant of this species, and they face the additional complication of viral mange outbreaks keeping their population numbers low. The IUCN list these animals as least concern.

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