CARNIVORES

Dogs and Foxes

Kit Fox

Vulpes macrotis

by Alison Sheehey ã 1998-2008

DESCRIPTION

Length – Head and body: 375-500mm.  Tail length: 225-323 mm. Black-tipped. Average weight: males - 2.2 kg, females - 1.9 kg. Dental formula: i insisors 3/3-canines 1/1-premolars 4/4-molars 2/3 x 2, Total 42. Mammae 8. Eyes: Brown. Pelage: back gray, outer legs tan, nape of neck tan, belly grayish white. Diet: omnivorous. Two local subspecies V.m. arsipus and V. m. mutica.

Common to grasslands, valley scrub, deserts, oak woodlands,   chaparral, and urban settings.

RANGE

The kit fox is found in southern Oregon to Baja California and north-central Mexico. It occupies lowlands in California’s valleys and deserts. In Kern County the range of the desert kit fox includes the Mojave Desert and the San Joaquin Kit Fox is found in the Central Valley and foothills.

Conservation comments:

 The San Joaquin Kit Fox is a cute, curious, and endangered resident  of the San Joaquin Valley of California