I am curious to hear what others have experienced over the years/decades in regard to fox vs coyote populations in their area.

Prior to 1986 ish here, we had fox. Lots and lots of fox and never saw a coyote. Then like a light switch the fox were all but gone and the coyotes were everywhere. Fox are making a slow comeback here but even the reds are now mainly holed up in town close to homes. Any fox caught in a coyote trap now is almost always torn apart by coyotes come morning. Of course some state DNR writings say coyotes have always been here and fox are doing great. I dissagree but would love to hear what other trappers have observed over the years.

My main question is: Did you see this seemingly wave of coyotes come in and displace the fox in your area at some point (and when did this happen)....or did you always have a mix?

Thank you for your observations.

Around here the coyote population was reduced significantly by the introduction of wolves. That in turn led to a big increase of foxes, and then a big decrease in the numbers of mountain grouse.

rural eastern side of WI, we have Red Foxes, see them occasionally on the property along with tracks in the winter. Had 3 young ones for a short time last summer that would sleep on top of our septic tank lids during the day.
I have never seen a coyote or tracks on the place. I have seen coyotes several miles from place tho. I would suspect that there are some coyotes but not many.

In the 80's and early 90's we had an excellent red fox population here in Manitoba out on the prairies-we could easily see over a hundred a day in winter after a blizzard or fresh snow dump. We would see the occasional coyote-but like one animal out of 3 hunting days. Once the price of foxes fell off the population got too high and was hit with mange etc.. and the coyotes began to populate and very soon after that the coyotes took over and the foxes were few and far between. Several of us witnessed the coyotes catching and killing a fox if it was caught out in an open field. So like Calvin has stated the foxes retreated to the urban areas and the heavier wooded sections. As far as the coyotes always being there-I call B.S.-at least not in any areas we hunted or trapped-out west may be a different story.

Its interesting how the wildlife guys make that sort of statement when they don't spend near the time out in the field as a trapper or predator hunter. Around here at least. They also told me when I was younger that we don't have Grey Fox in Manitoba-even though I had seen several when hunting grouse in our southeast corner of the province.

I have a picture of a farmer and myself with a dead coyote in our family owned bar in the late 70’s. That picture is supposedly one of the first coyotes seen/shot in our entire area. People drove from all over to see it and of course have a beer or two…. Year was around ‘77, eastern SD.

Coyotes started showing up here I’d say late 70s as mange had decimated the red fox population. But through the 80 and early 90s we still had a decent fox population including grays and just few coyotes. By 2000 grays disappeared completely and red’s became scarce and coyotes became the dominant canine with high numbers Today we have some reds close to buildings , towns, golf courses and heavily wooded bottom land . Reds may have adapted somewhat to coyotes. Grays extremely rare .

Thanks for all the insight, Guys. I'd love to respond to each and every post but I'll just let it roll.

I live in the red fox capital, just a few miles from Ron Leggetts house. Coyotes started to show up about 30 years ago and have steadily increased. Yet, there still is no noticeable reduction in red fox is this area. Grey fox are almost gone, that is a big question mark. Used to catch about 1 gray for every 15 reds. Haven't caught a gray in years.

My area didn't see yotes until the mid 80s. They were always in the upper part of the state but when the deer herds were lowered in numbers by new increased harvest limits they seemed to spread rapidly through the state.
We still have a decent red fox population but the grays are down in numbers in places where the yotes are in numbers.
Just my observation over the years

North Central Wi, 70's and 80's we had a good population of fox. Last 20 years very few, lots of coyotes, some wolves. Now I am seeing more fox the last two years, so I may go after a couple to tan this year.

Loaded with both Reds & Greys throughout the 60's & 70's.

Coyotes always present in the northern zone until the mid 1980's
when they started to migrate south and colonize our southern,
south-eastern, and south-western zones of upstate New York.

Very few greys in much of the state now although we are still
over run with them locally.

Reds are holding their own locally but scarce in much of the state.

I hate coyotes.

w

Caught 1st coyote here in deep southern GA in 1981. Showed him to several older folks and they didn't know what it was. It was a few years b4 I caught another. Now, they are definitely the dominant predator. For about a decade (90s into early 2000s) I'd catch coyotes and greys side by side. Made me think the greys were not affected much by the increasing coyotes. Now, I'm not so sure. But, greys could be struggling with distemper or some other disease?

Grey fox used to be thick nearly everywhere here thru the 80s and 90s. Then as time passed, there were less and less. There remained good pockets of high populations in a few areas into the 2000s. Today, I know of no area with good numbers of grey fox. I occasionally see a grey fox track here and there along dirt roads.

Red Fox have always been scarce here. Over the years have avg about 1 red for 20 greys. Like others, reds are near towns/cities/suburbs. Also, have caught a few in thick river & swamp bottoms. In the late 90s, I caught 205 fox...16 were reds.

According to Bob Young, head fur buyer for Pacific Hide and Fur GT Fall MT, in the 1940's and 50's and 60's Pacific bought about 100 coyotes to every red fox. The fox population started to increase, and by the early 1980's when I worked for them it was pretty close to equal coyotes and fox. They were the largest fur buyer in the area. They had days where they spent $100,000 across the counter buying fur. So according to Bob, the coyotes were there and the fox population increased.

Don't know when the coyotes started showing up around here but we have NO FOX of any kind in my area. And we have tons of coyotes.
Before coyotes stated showing up I was catching around 30 reds and 10 or so greys In a season. And that was just a few miles from the house.

Back in the 70's it was about 85% fox 15% brush wolf,the 80's 75% fox 25% brush wolf,90's about the same 75% 25%,00's 65% fox 35% brush wolves were getting better fur coyotes,10's 40% fox 60% coyote,20's 30% fox 70% coyotes this is what I've seen here in northern MN.Red fox,coyote %'s about every 5 years or so I will see a grey fox track,there has been a few caught around here in the last 25 years I know of 8 caught within 70 miles of here.From what I've seen this year the red fox is making a little come back,I think the higher prices paid for coyotes for awhile really helped and the wolves have helped the fox as well,that's the only good thing that has come from having a real healthy wolf population.

I've seen around here that the wolves have no problem eating a red fox. I've seen it several times and also had a couple fox in traps eaten by wolves. I haven't seen grey fox track in a couple years unless it's close to a town. I'd like to tan 1 of each for the wall but as of now the fox get a pass if I catch one.

Fox live in the cover around the farms/ranches here only time they travel is during the breeding season. Some years I get a few some years they seem to boom in locations. Some close to the interstate any place coyote prefer not to hang around at much. Never has a fox been ripped into by a yote in all my years but expected it to happen one day.

I see a lot of reds when visiting MO more than I’ve seen in other places lately.

I've one fox ate by a mangey wolf,and two that the wolve's played tug o war with,but not eaten.So out of 500 plus fox I can live with that.Interesting that you've had more eaten,I've had a few coyote's killed by wolve's,but not a lot and one bobcat put up a good fight against 4 wolve's,tug o war again,there were blood trails in the wolve's tracks leaving so I'm pretty sure that tom got some claws into their noses and face of the wolve's.

ttt

Been the same here in KS as long as I have lived here. 42 years now. Red fox in towns. Coyotes outside of towns. Scattered populations of a few greys in east KS.