RED FOX

Kingdom: animalia
Phylum : chordata
Class : mamalia
Order : carnivora
Family : canidae
Genus : vulpes
Species : V.vulpes

The color of the red fox ranges from pale yellowish red to reddish brown on the white top.  The bottom of the foot is usually black and the tail usually has a white tip.  The red fox weighs between 6 and 15 pounds, with an average length of 18 to 35 inches.  The red fox has an elongated body and relatively short limbs. The tail, which is longer than half the body length. The fox has pointed ears, long canine teeth, and eyes with vertical slits and a nictitating membrane.They are very agile, able to jump over fences as high as 2 meters (6 feet 7 in), and swim well. They also take abandoned burrows made by other animals or sometimes share with them. For example, foxes and badgers will live together in a form of mutualism where the fox provides scraps of food brought back to the den while the badger keeps the area clean.

The population in the southern desert and in North America is smaller than the European population. The red fox ranges across the Northern Hemisphere into Central America, North Africa, and Asia. It does not live in Iceland, in some deserts, or in the extreme polar regions of the Arctic and Siberia. The red fox was introduced to Australia in the 1830s. The species is banned from New Zealand under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act of 1996.