“It only takes one clever fox
to best a thousand men.”
Nina Varela
While driving home the other day, I saw this Dynamic Message Sign (DMS), “FOXES IN AREA”. I pulled over to take a photo. That’s my blue car in the bottom right. It’s hard to read my license plate but it reads: IBLUFOX. Yes, I’m a big fan of the fox, so much so I nicknamed my car, “Blue Fox”.
Over ten years ago, I saw a red fox on my daily evening walks. When I got home and told my husband, his response was: “We live at the beach. The only foxes I’ve ever seen are the bikini clad ones.”
I wish my husband was alive today to witness the City of Redondo Beach announcing foxes in the area.
In California there are two populations of Red Fox – the native Sierra Nevada Red Fox, a threatened species found only in the Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges, and the more common, non-native Red Fox. Non-native Red Foxes were introduced decades ago for fox hunting and fur farming.
In my neighboring area of Palos Verdes, back in the 1920s they had fox hunting. Obviously, the foxes they released “out foxed” the riders and headed to Redondo Beach to be closer to the ocean. Their populations have grown and gradually spread.
The fox, the smallest member of the dog family, is a highly adaptable species that inhabits mostly forest, chaparral, and desert regions, but can be found in nearly all habitats. There are three types of fox common to Southern California, including the Gray Fox, Red Fox, and Island Fox. The Southern California Kit Fox, a subspecies of Kit Fox, died out in Southern California in 1903.
Foxes are more solitary in their habits than are others in the dog family. They are territorial and can be aggressive, especially during the breeding season. Their once-a-year breeding season corresponds with the availability of food.
Despite the fact that urban foxes use human buildings for shelter and human refuse for food, their contact with humans is quite limited. Most people who live in an urban area have never seen a fox in the city. Foxes keep a nocturnal schedule, and in the nighttime are often mistaken for dogs when they are seen.
Red Foxes, the most commonly recognized fox, are known for their cleverness and have the largest range in North America. Although they are close relatives of the Gray Fox, they are considerably larger, normally ranging in size from ten to fifteen pounds. Their coats may be reddish or gray or even black, but their legs and feet are always black. The tail is tipped with white.
Socially, the fox communicates with body language and a variety of vocalizations. Its vocal range is quite large and its noises vary from a distinctive three-yip “lost call” to a shriek reminiscent of a human scream. It also communicates with scent, marking food and territorial boundary lines with urine and feces.
With all our fires and oil spills the last few years, our wild life has had to relocate and adapt. The bright side is some of our wild life thought to be outsourced by fires, and over building in rural areas have actually been thriving.
It’s exciting to witness one of my favorite animals in my own backyard, the Redondo Beach foxes.
Shine On
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