Red Fox

The Red Fox is not a true native Texan, but instead result of several introductions -  in  East and Central Texas -  for the purpose of fox hunting. The native gray fox just quickly ran tree and ended the chase. The red fox is a native of the U.S., however, and is the most widespread -  from the Arctic to the Mexican border. The Texas territory of the red fox is a wide corridor of perhaps 300 miles running from the upper northeast corner down to the Southwest leaving out the Trans-Pecos, West Texas and the Panhandle, and South Texas.

Its range overlaps the range of the gray fox in this corridor, and because their hunting habits and prey animals are almost identical, they do compete for territory. The red fox is, in general, slightly larger and certainly looks bulkier than the gray fox. Sometimes a red fox will be dark or gray in color, and sometimes a gray fox will be very red in color. They can be easily identified by their tails. The red fox has a white tip on its tail, and the gray fox as well as the swift and desert foxes has a black tip on its tail. When the red fox gets hungry enough, he will take chances, and many farmers have turned around to see d fox making off with a chicken that was only moments before feeding a few feet away. The red fox's stealth is infuriating.

-Excerpt from Charles Beckendorf Texas