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Loretta Seabrook, age 16, of Youngstown, Ohio, for her question:

WHAT KIND OF ANIMAL IS A KIT FOX?

You might mistake him for a teen‑age runaway, for he resembles the gray and red foxes in almost everything but size. No doubt he was named the kit fox because of his kittenish size, though it should be noted that young foxes prefer to be called cubs.

The charming little kit fox belongs to North America, though even here he is seldom seen. Ecologists rate him as one of our rarest mammals, and they would like to know more about him. His favorite haunts are the Western prairies and the desert regions.

His total length, including his foxy tail, is about 20 inches.His total weight is about five pounds, which is half as heavy as a red or gray fox.    He has a grayish buff coat, extra‑large ears and usually a black tip at the end of his bushy tail. He has a foxy face but not the foxy character of his larger cousins.

Actually the kit fox is a friendly fellow, too trusting for his own good. Often he walks right into a trap that the cunning red fox would avoid. However, the kit fox can take good care of himself, and he fills an important role in the ecology.

Like all members of the wild dog family he is by nature a meat eater, though people have caught him eating grass and some suspect that he may enjoy fruit for dessert. Unlike other foxes, he is a creature of the night, when he comes forth to dine on mice and other ratty rodents, chipmunks and cottontails. He also enjoys beetles and grasshoppers and once in a while a bite of snake or lizard meat.

All foxes live in dens, but the kit fox is a better digger than his relatives. The burrow where he spends the day has several exits, where he scoots to safety when pursued by hungry eagles or coyotes. It serves as bedroom and dining room, often littered with leftover bones.

The small, big‑eared fox runs faster than other foxes and he is an artful dodger. At full speed, he zigzags at sharp angles to confuse his foes‑‑then suddenly disappears down one of his secret holes.

In early spring, the female kit fox bears from two to seven helpless cubs. She nurses them for 10 weeks, then the devoted father helps to bring home the groceries. Both parents train and educate the playful young foxes until they are ready to go off on their own.

 

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