More red fox facts: 31 Surprising Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Foxes
“Does a fox look more like a dog or a cat?” It’s a question I get asked quite regularly. Foxes belong to the dog family, Canidae, which also includes dogs, wolves and jackals. Yet foxes are rather the odd ones out within this family of canids. The red fox is sometimes even described as a catlike canid.
Appearance
In terms of size, a fox resembles a large, long-legged cat or a delicately built dog. People are often surprised by how small foxes actually are. To compensate for this, they come equipped with an enormous tail that both dogs and cats could only dream of.
The fox has a long muzzle, like its canine cousin, and upright ears like its feline cousin, only way bigger.
A fox’s usually reddish coat is exceptionally thick and dense, providing excellent insulation during winter. Fox fur is longer and softer than that of the average dog, although cats still win when it comes to ultimate softness and sleekness.
Character
The fox combines the friendliness and enthusiasm of a dog with the independence and mystique of a cat.
A fox can be curious and adventurous, just like a dog, but when it comes to sheer cuteness, the feline side wins hands down. Foxes can behave very puppy-like with a serious case of the zoomies, only to pretend afterwards that nothing whatsoever happened, exactly like cats do.
Food
Cats are picky. They’ll quite happily turn their noses up at a perfectly respectable steak if it didn’t come from the right butcher. And eat an orange in their presence and you may be in the doghouse for three days. They are obligate carnivores. Most dogs, on the other hand, will have swallowed something before they’ve even had time to consider whether it was actually edible. It could be meat, a banana or ….a sock.
A fox takes this one step further and basically lives by the principle of whatever’s on the menu: Meat, fruit, insects or a bag of chips. Even something that has been rotting for weeks may still be considered a perfectly acceptable snack. For a fox, the entire world is one giant potential buffet.
Washing
When it comes to personal hygiene, the fox lacks the grace and flexibility of a cat and washes itself with all the elegance of a dog.
Senses
The way these three species use their senses is remarkably different. Dogs rely heavily on their sense of smell to find their way around and have an excellent sense of hearing. Cats have superb low-light vision, as well as highly sensitive hearing for locating prey. They also rely on their sense of touch through their sensitive whiskers.
A fox’s sensory equipment is a fascinating mix. Its sense of smell is excellent, although not as specialised as that of a dog. Its hearing, however, is extraordinary. Foxes can detect the sounds of small rodents from considerable distances and are even able to locate mice moving beneath snow.
Hunting
Catching mice with a mouse pounce is something the fox may have borrowed from the cat. Or perhaps the other way around. The way foxes dig out rabbit burrows, however, has something decidedly dog-like about it. This becomes even more obvious when they adopt that stealthy hunting pose, complete with one paw stretched forward.
Foxes don’t hunt in packs like wolves. They are generally solitary hunters, much like cats.
Dogs and foxes primarily use their mouths when catching and killing prey, whereas cats make much greater use of their claws.
Foxes also have another unique superpower: there is evidence suggesting that they may use the Earth’s magnetic field to help them hunt, particularly when pouncing on small prey. Now that’s something neither the dog nor the cat can easily claim.
The Arched Back
Cats are famous for their arched backs; a posture that can express fear, defensiveness or aggression. This classic Halloween-cat posture is often used to make the animal appear larger and more intimidating, accompanied by things such as flattened ears and enlarged tail.
Dogs sometimes manage a rather floppy imitation by raising the hair along their shoulders and back – the canine equivalent of trying to look bigger.
What surprisingly few people know – and what I couldn’t find much information about online – is that red foxes can do it too! They don’t hiss or spit like a cat, but they can arch their backs, flatten their ears and pull off a remarkably convincing angry-cat impression. I’ve only seen it a handful of times. But I have the photographs to prove it.
Climbing
Ever seen a dog climb? Exactly. A fox doesn’t shy away from it either. Although, lacking fully retractable claws, it is perhaps more of a brilliantly acquired skill than a built-in climbing superpower. The real climbing champions are, of course, the cats.
Swimming
Put a cat in the bath and it may never look at you again. Take a dog to the sea and you just have become its best friend forever. A fox sits somewhere in between. It certainly won’t start wagging its tail with excitement at the sight of water, but neither is it particularly afraid of getting its coat wet.
Tales of the Tail
About tail wagging…In foxes, cats and dogs alike, the tail is an important part of communication. A dog may show excitement by wagging its tail, and a fox may greet a familiar fox with enthusiastic tail movements, sometimes combining boundless excitement with a dash of nervousness and a pinch of submission.
See a cat “wagging” its tail and you know: here comes trouble. A swishing feline tail usually means that the cat is anything but amused.
A cat greeting you with its tail held straight up is more like a big smile: I like you!
Dogs may hold their tails high when alert or excited, while foxes use their tails in a somewhat different way and don’t generally carry them upright in the same manner. Unless, of course, they’re swimming and trying to keep the thing dry. A lowered or tucked tail can indicate fear, uncertainty or submission in all three species — although, as always, context matters. So whether it’s a cheerful wag or a venomous little swish: read the tail. It has a story to tell.
Eyes
Here’s another decidedly catlike feature. Red foxes, like cats, have vertically slit pupils, unlike dogs and wolves, which have round pupils. Those vertical pupils are particularly useful in species that are active in low light and may help with judging distances to nearby objects and prey.
Yawning
One thing foxes, dogs and cats can happily agree on: they all yawn. Yawning can occur when an animal is relaxed or tired, but it can also be associated with stress or arousal. The meaning is best understood from the context and the animal’s overall body language. So yes, even something as simple as a yawn needs a little interpretation.
Communication
Foxes are serious vocalists. They can produce an impressive variety of sounds, including high-pitched screams, barks, whines, yelps and other noises that can sound surprisingly cat-like. Some fox vocalisations are particularly dramatic, especially during encounters with other foxes. They can also bark, although fox barking has several possible functions, depending on the situation. Dogs, meanwhile, have inherited the famous howl of their wolf ancestors and can use it as a form of long-distance communication. Foxes have a remarkably broad vocal repertoire too, and some of their sounds can even resemble the purring of a cat. I’ve never actually heard a fox purr. Perhaps that’s because no fox has ever had the good sense to curl up on my lap.
Domestication
Dogs were probably standing at the front of the queue when domestication was handed out, with their enthusiastic and people-loving personalities. Cats resisted for centuries, tooth and claw, and never quite surrendered completely. Instead, they turned the whole thing around and successfully domesticated Homo sapiens.
What I’ve always wondered is why we were so keen to tame an independent species like the cat, while a fox seems, by nature, surprisingly approachable and trusting towards humans. Foxes don’t scratch or hiss. And they would never, for absolutely no apparent reason, turn their back on you and sit there like you’ve personally offended them. What doesn’t work in the fox’s favour is that wild instinct. Even tame foxes can be spectacularly destructive, happily dismantling anything that isn’t nailed down and preferably a few things that are. They can also be difficult to house-train and have a rather strong smell. But the most convincing argument against keeping a fox as a pet is that they generally have a shorter lifespan than dogs and cats. Okay. The cat wins.
Fun fact: Dogxim, the fox-dog
While dogs and wolves belong to the genus Canis, red foxes belong to the genus Vulpes. They are therefore not normally able to reproduce with one another.
And yet… In 2021, a remarkable canid was discovered in Brazil: an animal that turned out to be a hybrid between a domestic dog and a Pampas fox. The animal, later nicknamed Dogxim, had a distinctly fox-like muzzle and ears combined with more dog-like characteristics. She could bark, but reportedly preferred rodents to dog food and was also able to climb trees. She became famous as the first documented case of a dog–“fox” hybrid. There is, however, a rather important detail here: the Pampas fox (Lycalopex gymnocercus) isn’t actually a true fox in the genus Vulpes. It belongs to a different branch of the South American canid family. So Dogxim doesn’t prove that a red fox and a dog can produce offspring. But she does provide a fascinating reminder that the evolutionary boundaries within the dog family aren’t always quite as tidy as they look on paper.
Laughing
And then there is one more thing foxes clearly have in common with both their canine brothers and feline sisters: the ability to be completely in the moment and enjoy life as if there were no tomorrow. We all know that blissful look of a cat lying in the sunshine. Or a dog getting a brand-new toy and looking as if it has just won the lottery. A fox, too, can have those moments when it seems to be enjoying life to the absolute max. And yes…I would even go so far as to say that foxes can smile. Don’t believe me? Take a look for yourself.
So, are foxes dogs or cats? Neither. Perhaps that’s exactly what makes them so fascinating. They borrow a little from the dog, steal a few tricks from the cat, add a generous dose of their own weirdness — and refuse to fit neatly into either box. A fox is, as it were, the best of both worlds, or, as they so aptly put it on Reddit: A Fox is dog hardware running on cat software.
