Red fox numbers in your area

When I was a lad growing up and trapping in Western Pennsylvania, I caught a fair amount of red fox. When the coyotes moved in, the numbers drastically dropped. I know there are still some hot spots like SE Pennsylvania. Probably because the coyotes have yet to take over. How are the populations holding up in you area?

Decent in Juniata County.

The red fox has made big come back in my area of Kentucky....No decrease in coyote numbers either.

I know it's bucking conventional wisdom, but the reds seem to be figuring this coyote invasion out.

Grays always stayed at historical norms here.

Coyotes have taken over here. I hear them almost evey night when I go out on my deck.
Fox which were once very common,are scarce as hens teeth.Last one I saw was in the middle of the night in downtown Hudson,Wi.
Stopped at the post office in my town one night ,and a coyote ran right through the parking lot.
Tom

Fox here hide around the farm places close to human activity to keep the coyotes away they do travel more when breeding season is on. Lots some years and few the next my guess that has to do with crop/ hay habitat changes.

I see and catch more of them now, but try to release all of them if possible. They have learned to adapt around coyotes. You find them closer to homesteads and also see them in town once in awhile. No greys though.

Plenty of reds around here in areas. They live in numbers closer to people but they are cohabitating with the coyotes in the big woods also. Seems bobcat fox and coyote have learned to tolerate others existance or just learned to stay clear.of each other.

I’m in Western Pa....catch three coyotes for every fox. In my canine sets, out of ten catches, seven will be coyotes, one red and two grey fox.

We had a decent number of reds here before coyotes took hold 30 years ago.

We got a couple here.

Which county do you live in? I trapped Allegheny, Armstrong, Westmoreland, Warren and Forest counties when I lived there,

Old renyards numbers are still good here and we also have lots of yotes. It's the Grey's that have taken a big hit in the last 20 years in my area

I had a lot of red fox on my farm in 2019, back to 2012 when we moved here. I saw a number of different fox a few times a week. I then found a dead one in 2020, that was partially eaten.



Since then, all the fox that I normally saw, including some that would come within 10 feet of me at my egg dump have disappeared. I haven't seen a fox in probably 8 months here.

Keith

I'm in the fox belt so lots of reds here. Coyote started filtering in maybe ten years ago.

I don't think the coyote have really affected the red population too much yet.

The bigger issue is several poultry farmers closing up shop. I averaged twenty reds a season on those farms. I guy in particular free-ranged a huge flock of ducks, geese, turkeys and chickens. I've caught close to thirty fox a season there some years. He moved out of state and two seasons ago I caught seven there.

I didn't trap this season due to market uncertainty and lack of a prospective buyer. When I run shorter lines and/or don't have time to hit it hard the following seasons are great. Red fox tend to really overpopulate quickly around here if you don't kill a bunch each season.

I wonder why? Grays usually fair better than reds with the coyotes in the area.

We snare too many reds for our liking at coyote baits. Thy coexist here in good numbers.

I’m not a good coyote trapper, but I have 11 reds and one coyote this season

WE don't have hardly any red fox or greys around here.

Not many if it all.

Most I see are hit on the road.

Not sure but had a thought that maybe they stood their ground, pretty tenacious critters, and lost when the reds ran. But doesn't seem that way in your area. I can still catch a few but in some of the thickest brush around. Use to catch them in the hedge rows but it's been ten or more years now

Grey fox can climb trees to escape yotes.

25 years ago I trapped 50 plus red fox within a ten mile radius of my home. We used to see them regularly. Now we see one or two on a good year. I'm not sure why this happened. We're certainly not over run with coyotes in the area. Lot more racoons though. Let's just blame them.

Steady in Lancaster county. York has Yotes moved in heavy, probably bad new for reds.

Low now, probably the lowest I've seen them here in my 21 years here.
Caught 5 this year and even let 2 of them go.

Plus they usually live in more brushy areas and get into smaller holes like rock crevices to escape coyotes.

Saw one this fall, First one in years. Used to be very common.

Used to have high numbers of grey's and reds on my farm and the other places I trap. Very few reds now and I haven't caught a grey in probably 5 seasons. Eric

Yup, one or two.

I've been trapping in PA on and off for 50 years. Yes, I am old. I trap early season in Potter County and after deer season in Westmoreland, Fayette, and some in Somerset Counties. Obviously, I witnessed the change from no coyotes to plenty. The red fox suffered more than the grey fox. Grey Fox were never that prevalent, but I have not noticed much of a decline. I do catch 5 coyotes to every Red Fox and still catch the occasional Grey, particularly in thickets.

caught nine in 7 days with five cable restraints. last year. didn't run a big line. just remade same set after i caught each time. numbers are high in my area when yotes are low id say. seems little lower this year but still good. last few years yotes have been low in my township area due to mange killing them off few years ago IMO but idk really...just know they were crazy high numbers now not many yotes and tons of fox. don't bother me none. not a fan of yotes anyhow. kinda like watching the foxes run around and eat the chipmunks here during bow season. don't ever see many grey's. wish i did.

what are these so called red foxes? we used to have them when I was a kid. The last one I saw was when I was in high school. Dad remembers the first coyote he ever saw here when he was in high school (1st possum too ) The nephew just got a picture on a game cam that sure looks like one though and the neighbor across the street said that about 2 years ago he saw one in his pipe yard next to the barn. I hope they have a chance at making a comeback -- myself and the neighbors are obviously not doing a good enough job on the coyotes.

We are over run with both reds & greys here in
Eastern Lake Ontario country in northern New York.

The reds are also covered with mange which knocks
their numbers back each season.

We also have a ton of cayutes so go figure.

$5.00 for put up red fox is not incentive enough to trap them.

Not many people are trapping around here but we are
also over run with predator callers shooting them up.

walleyed

Butler

All of ours ran over to where Hobbie's at... haven't seen one in awhile...

Coming right up that power line ROW from Millsboro on their way to PA. lol

Numbers of reds are lower this season than in the last 7 or so. I believe it was the drought that killed YOY reds.
Catching adults in normal numbers, YOY numbers are way down this year. Always have grays.

Mostly just a few around towns. Did start seeing one or two around my farm 2 years ago. Then the neighbor saw them mating in the road ditch a year ago and shot both then called and asked if I wanted them. Never have trapped a fox in my life.

I’ve never had fox on trail camera here. Rarely, and I mean rarely encounter fox tracks. I’ve only seen less than a half dozen in my life, which is strange, because there used to be a lot here. My grandfather even had some as pets in the 60s.


I suspect the mixed timber and field types changing to almost everything outside of bottomland hardwood being pine played a part in the decline. If I had my way, I’d plant a variety of trees, but I don’t, so loblolly pine it’ll stay.

My coyote to fox ratio one year was 2 fox to 1 coyote (20 fox, 10 yotes :2015), this year it was 4.5 coyotes to 1 fox in the same region. Not sure why that was other then maybe I hit a pocket of fox that used the same trail over and over.

Very healthy red population in northern Maine. Tracks everywhere.

Red Fox are plentiful around these parts. I had 3 doubles this past week at the same location, same 2 traps side by side. Luckily, very few coyotes around.

Guys that previously had a lot of Fox, and coyotes ran them out, how long did this process take? Hate to see the coyote take over the red fox .

John

The area I am in MN I average 3 red fox to 1 coyote. Then 2 coyote to every gray fox

Pics from last couple days. Very fortunate to still have an abundance of Red Fox. Never gets old coming around the corner seeing them bouncing in a trap!

John

Nice. I’m doing pretty good for a half arsed effort. Any greys John?

Picking up few greys. I set mostly for reds in crop fields/transitions. Helps avoid coons and possums. I do like to set woods roads here and there to pick up grays. Have one location for grays set right now that I’ve nabbed a couple. Very down sized trapline, just setting enough to keep the property owners happy . Wish the Fox market would improve!

John

I hear you. I’m liking the greys. Still a novelty to me. None where I came from.

Last season I caught 39 coyotes and 5 reds and two grey fox. So far this season I have caught nothing but coyotes and bobcats. Definitely nowhere near the numbers of fox we had 20-30 yr ago

Our reds tend to stick to abandoned farms or cities to avoid the coyotes. I've been releasing the lion share of them I catch each season for a while now. I'm starting to see them out in the open in traps in locations where I've never encountered reds before. Our cat population seemed to really take off this year as well. I'd say the price for coyotes has probably drove both of these populations up in my area. No one liked coyotes before but they have been the main target with prices the last couple seasons as well.

Pretty greys Mud. Our area has a great grey fox, grade wise. I’ve had two make top lot at NAFA , and most graded selects. I’ll be shipping most to a tannery this year.

Wade how are the denning habits of the coyote compared to red fox on agricultural land in your area? Most reds here den in open fields, on high sandy ground. I’m interested to see how this changes as the coyotes influx.

John

Here the red population has been stable for the last decade or so but low. It depends a lot upon where one lives here. If you live in an area with a lot of small fields, fence lines, abandoned buildings, sloughs, wood lots etc. the reds can hold their own. As the fence lines get buried, woodlots disappear and fields get larger the coyotes have a better habitat. When the yotes get mange here the fox disappear for a while and then come back. I live in an area where coyotes outnumber reds but reds are on the radar more than a few miles to my west.

Bryce

Nice John!

JoMiBru... stick that 3rd or 4th DH in there too... makes for a better pic...

in Ohio the coyotes have eaten nearly all of the gray fox. I really miss seeing and catching them. The reds are thin but holding on. Like most places they have adapted to live around old farm buildings and more on the edge of suburbia. When caught I release the reds.

reds have made a big come back here the last few years , still a lot of coyote around , think maybe they have learn to avoid the coyotes

I'll see your doubles and raise with a pair of triples!

See.. I told ya so...

Forty years ago grays were common in my area of southeast Pa. The first couple of fox I caught were grays.

I haven't caught or seen any sign of one in thirty years. I still catch them and reds in about equal numbers in north-central Pa.

Yep

Lately there has only been small pockets with some fox in east central Wi. In my particular area, we've got a couple of young guys that have been pounding some big numbers of coyotes with thermals at night the last 3 years.
It has definitely made a positive impact on the reds. I see tracks pretty regular and get a fair amount of trail cam pics of them as well.

I would think populations of fox in northern and central Wi. would be decent seeing many pockets in those areas are over run with wolves??? I would assume in those areas, the coyotes are the prey species?

A gray / red double

Im in Northern Chester County PA; lots of reds!! My Dad in in the Philadelphia suburbs and has reds feeding at the bird feeder, eating scraps. Lots of mangey ones too. Too bad prices are so low....

Chester County PA reds. Not hard to put numbers up here....

The comments on fox populations are directly tied to geographic region (of course) and more so (at least locally) to how long one has been studying fox populations.

Locally we had tons of fox until the coyotes showed up in the mid 80s. Coyotes decimated our fox population to about nothing. In recent years they have come back a "little" but no where even close to where they were back before the coyotes showed up. So if you didn't know what the population was pre coyotes in your area then you likely have a very skewed perception of what they really are now.

I used to love trapping fox. Now I don't have it in me to take them knowing the pressure the coyotes put on them and the REAL lack of their populations compared to what the should be. I release all my fox now...But about half the fox I catch are torn in half or thirds by coyotes as they often times beat me to my traps. Coyotes also den the pups. The fox will never really recover now.

For those select few that still have fox and little to no coyotes, enjoy it while it lasts.

Well I guess one good thing about wolves is they hate coyotes and seem to live decently amongst the fox. It's something

Noticed an uptick in the red fox population here over the past decade. Still plenty of coyotes too!

Chris

I live in western Oregon where we used to have a decent red population. My neighbor told me of catching 250 reds in my county alone in the mid-50's. For the last many years running harvest stats show that less than 50 red fox are harvested annually in all of western Oregon.

I saw my first pair of coyotes in 1974 on the valley floor. I remember telling my sheep raising neighbor about it who had lived here since the late 20's and he was sure I was mistaken since he'd never seen a coyote in the valley. That spring he called to apologize that he had doubted me, since he had lost 20 lambs that spring to coyotes.
We used to see some reds on our farm but I haven't seen any for over 15 years now. We do have a pair of grays that raise a litter every year. I leave them unmolested as they do a good job on the field mice.

I also listen to the coyotes sing in the lowlands below the farm quite often.

Living close to Nittany Lion in central Pa., I agree with him. We are holding steady.

Our fox here in nw.pa are trying to make a comeback. I caught coyote #29 for the season today which evened out my fox to coyote numbers for the year as I have caught 29 fox also.i release all of my red fox females and only keep a few choice red fox males.but I release none of these.

In SE and Central PA, I see way more fox sign than coyote. The other day I saw a nice red fox in a field not far from where I have some traps out. The guy living next to the field was in his driveway so I stopped to talk to him. He said he used to see them all the time but hasn't seen any for a while. If we ever get some snow, I'll be able to get out and confirm.

Looks like you'll get your wish for snow tomorrow.

We have fox around here but the mostly live in town or farm yards, some along the creeks and rivers. Not many at all our in open. Along railroad right of ways seem to have some also.
I am no expert but ive always heard discussions of coyote impact to fox populations.
I personally believe the demise of non crop ground, i.e. CRP program grass set asides and the conversion of lots of pasture and timber areas into farm ground around here did in many species. A lot fewer pheasants when the cover all left...same with foxes.
The crop and land prices here got high and led to lots of good cover turned into farm ground for crops.
Friends of mine used to have over 800 acres in grass and timber. Pheasants and fox everywhere. Today in winter thst is all flat picked bean fields. When they took it out we had a doozy of a wet spring with heavy wet snows and winds, decimated the pheasant population on our end of the state. I didn't see any more fox on their ground after it all went into cropland. We could catch coyotes all day long along the little weedy fencerows left running through their place though.
Like Wade, I've been turning fox loose myself for years, haven't harvested a fox catch in over 10 years but have caught several. Would just like to have more around here. Got a pair that visit our backyard often. Neat animal.
There aren't a lot of hiding spots left as there used to be.
Jim

Dont forget our national bird ,They take a lot of fox especially the young !

Far as I know the mange wiped out most the fox in nearly every state 30 or so years ago.
Seems pa, and a couple east coast states still have fox.
Some areas I hear have more now, we see a few more now.
When I averaged 120 fox a year, maybe got 3-8 coyote then, now if I get 50-70 coyote I might get one or two fox.
I haven't killed 25 fox in 30 years now

Last few years coming back in my area. A lot of pressure on coyotes which I thing helps.

I agree with jabNE bout habitat loss. Same thing in Oregon. Grass seed production in the valley requires weed free border areas so farmers have been removing odd weed covered areas and herbiciding the edges of fields and ditches to keep their grass seed weed-free certifications in place.

Also big efforts are made to control vole populations via poisoning. That's got to be hard on fox too.

Lots of fox further north in the lowlands-very open up there-Fox like open areas or at least some open mixed with the bush here.
Forest fires and clearcuts help the foxes here in the boreal forest by providing more open habitat.

. Few coyotes up there Boco? Here it’s the same you usually hear everywhere They are close to towns and I have noticed in some of the wooded small valleys they will live along the roads. Big ridges and such that twenty five years ago fox loved the coyote rules now

There are very few coyotes but where there are some they stick close to the towns.
The fox seem to do good following the wolves around,and the wolves dont seem to bother the fox.
The wolves seem to not tolerate coyotes at all,and there are no coyotes where the wolves are.
It is rare for wolves to come close to town.

Around my area there is a lot of fox. I sit at fair booths representing the Minnesota Trappers Association and folks come up talking about the fox they seen carrying there chickens away. My neighbor took a picture of a fox walking up the wheel chair ramp to their house after a rooster chicken. She called me and asked to trap them. Put two traps out and had a double the next day. I believe I have permission on that land for life. I ended up with 6 reds and 4 coyote on that property this year

Do red-tail hawks take young foxes? We have tons of them around here and they are decimating small game.

Alot of coyotes.More fox right around houses.

Nice doubles.