08/19/2026
Today’s critter for Wildlife Wednesday is the beautiful gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus). 🦊These animals are common here in the park but seldom seen, and are most active at night. Gray foxes are members of the dog family, and have semi-retractable claws, which enable them to climb trees! They are not large animals, usually weighing only 6-15 pounds.
Gray foxes are omnivores – they eat small mammals, birds, plants, and insects. A favorite food is the cottontail rabbit. And this time of year, their s**t (p**p!) may have lots of black persimmon fruit in it as well! 💩
Gray foxes are social animals, and during the year the male and female bond remains intact. An average of 4 pups are born after a 53-day gestation period. The young are weaned after about 10 weeks, and after that, the male fox provides solid food for the whole family. They remain together through the fall, but usually each fox is solitary throughout the winter.
The red fox, a relative of the gray fox, can also sometimes be found in our area, but the gray fox is more common. 🦊 Gray foxes have a black tip on their tail, and yellow or orange underparts and around their white throat. Red foxes tend to be slightly larger, and they have a white tip on their tail, and no orange-ish yellow on their underparts.
Have you spotted a gray fox (or a red fox) before? Remember, like all wildlife, if you are lucky enough to see this animal, please give it the space it deserves and help keep it wild!
📷 Photo credit: Texas Master Naturalist Lucy Spade, except 1st and 2nd photos by Park Staff.
