Are you wondering what foxes eat? They have a diverse diet. They are excellent hunters catching and killing smaller animals that are below them in the food chain. Their prey includes rabbits, small birds, frogs, and rodents, among other small animals.
For this reason, you might assume they are carnivores, but the truth is that they are omnivorous. They feed on berries, fruits, and vegetables. For urban foxes, they tend to scavenge for leftover food in the dustbin.
Table of Contents
- Foxes Habits and Biology
- Do Foxes Eat Dirt?
- What Do Foxes Like To Eat Most? (Fox diet)
- Food to Avoid Feeding Foxes
- Tips to Feed Foxes
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
- Summary
Foxes Habits and Biology
Foxes live in diverse habitats, including mountains, grassland, forests, deserts, and the human environment, such as suburban areas and farms. Their resourcefulness has made them be recognized as the most cunning and intelligent animals in the juggle. Like cats, their thick tails help with balance, warm cover, and communication with other foxes.
How do animals know they are stepping into their enemies’ territory? Every animal has a distinctive manner in which they mark their habitat or home. For foxes, they mark their territory using their urine, faeces and scent. Scent can also be used during the breeding season to mark their reproductive status. How big is the foxes’ habitat? Their territory ranges between 2kms to 5kms. Their population density and food availability influence their habitat size. In some areas, there are more foxes than others, and in such a case, they will have a significant habitat compared to places they are few.
While foxes are omnivores, they are solitary hunters catching smaller animals like rodents and rabbits. They also eat fruits, vegetables and those living near the human environment scavenge for leftovers in the dustbins. They hide in their habitat during the day, which is usually a hole underground or a hole at a big tree. At nightfall, they leap out to go hunting and patrol their territory. They are generally described as opportunistic predators and scavengers.
In a day, they eat about 300g to 450g a diet comprising small prey such as birds, rabbits, and mice. Though they are omnivores, they only eat fruits and ground nuts when there is food scarcity. However, when food is abundant, they will hunt excess and bury them for seasons like winter when the food is scarce.
In early spring and during winter, foxes meet to mate. The gestation period usually lasts 51 to 53 days, and 2 to 12 cubs are born. Winning takes about four to six weeks. During this period, both parents take care of their young one before they can start hunting independently at the beginning of the fall when they are between 10 and 12 weeks. By the time they reach six months, they are independent. In one year, both males and female reach their sexual maturity, and they start to disintegrate from the family and move to a new environment to establish their own
Their population is primarily managed by various diseases such as parvovirus and distemper, predators higher in the food chain like the leopards and humans. Also, during food scarcity, foxes can feed on young and week foxes, thus reducing their population.
Do Foxes Eat Dirt?
Foxes are known to have a broad diet ranging from meat to fruits and nuts. They are also known to hunt excess food when abundant and bury it for when there is scarcity.
Such meat will get dirt from the soil, but foxes will still eat. They dig up the earthworms and groundnuts, which are generally covered in dirt, and eat them.
More so, city foxes and those living close to humans scavenge for food in the dustbin, packed with other dirt.
What Do Foxes Like To Eat Most? (Fox diet)
1. Meat protein diet
Foxes’ diet is primarily made of meatproteins. They like cooked or raw meat. Though they are omnivores, they like hunting small animals like rabbits, rodents, and birds.
They hunt from evening through the night. For those living near the city or human habitats, if you want to feed them, you can give them cooked meat, and they will keep visiting your home.
2. Canned pet food
They also love tinned pet food like Pedigree chopped ground dinner wet dog food. These are dog food. If you have a dog, you can choose to share them with foxes visiting your home. You can also order specifically to feed the foxes.
3. Fruit and vegetables for foxes
Do foxes love fruits and vegetables? Foxes love vegetables like frozen vegetables, cherry tomatoes, and they would eat them all through the day. Several teaspoons of vegetables daily would do the trick for young foxes and large spoons of vegetables for bigger foxes.
How do I know if I am feeding a lot of vegetables to a fox? Observe their stool, and if you notice to compose a lot of vegetable matter, there higher chances you are feeding it a lot of veggies, and it is necessary to reduce them.
Similarly, fruits like cherries and berries should not be provided as the main diet but rather as a treat.
4. Foxes love taurine
Taurine is a form of vitamin supplement necessary for fox’s health. It can be found in dog foods. If it is not part of the ingredients from the tin in which you are feeding your fox’s you can purchase taurine capsules.
For young foxes, about 500g daily is enough supplements, but adults might require more. However, this is not a requirement as they get vitamins from non-grain foods and small animals like mice, rodents, and insects.
Food to Avoid Feeding Foxes
Before diving into the specific type of food that you should avoid feeding your fox, any food that can hurt a dog or a cat is poisonous to your fox.
1. Avoid feeding grains to foxes
While foxes are known as wild scavengers, they do not eat grains in the wild. Therefore, under no circumstances should you feed them with a diet comprising grains like oats, rice or wheat.
2. Fruits like grapes and raisins
These fruits are known to cause vomiting, kidney problems, and hypercalcemia in dogs and foxes. Since they are lethal to foxes, they should not be anywhere close to their diet.
3. Avoid feeding foxes’ with pepper, tomatoes or green eggplant
These types of fruits are known to contain toxins called glycoalkaloids. Even the leaves and stems of these plants should be avoided.
While after the fruits ripen, the toxins are said to leave the plant and are safe for animal consumption, the fruits still retain their toxins level, making them not suitable for foxes’ consumption.
However, tomatoes can be fed but at a controlled level to prevent toxins buildup.
4. Avoid feeding green potatoes.
Green potatoes contain several toxins that are harmful to foxes. As such, care should be taken when storing potatoes to avoid being exposed to sunlight.
The potatoes should instead be stored in a light-proof sack. Any sprouting or green potatoes should not be part of the foxes’ diet as not even cooking can destroy the toxins.
5. Coffee and chocolate
When foxes are thirsty, let them take plain water and nothing else. Coffee, for instance, contains about 150mg of caffeine which is enough lethal doses to a fox.
Similarly, chocolate contains theobromine, a compound that is poisonous to many animals, including foxes.
Tips to Feed Foxes
Feeding wild animals is one way of getting closer to nature. Besides, when foxes are on the verge of becoming extinct due to numerous predators, including themselves, feeding can help them thrive.
Would you like to feed some foxes in your neighborhood, but you do not know how? The best way to feed foxes in your backyard is to try and give them the same diet they are used to in the forest.
A wild animal will always be wild, and no matter how much their diet might seem unsuitable, it is essential to maintain its neutrality as much as possible.
Feeding them with raw or cooked meat is excellent, and other canned pet foods and unsalted peanuts, fruits, and cheese. Below are some feeding tips:
- Establish a feeding program that encourages foxes to visit your home at a specific time by leaving some food out in the garden or backyard. The fox will get used to the program when they visit any other time, and they find nothing.
- Leave a bowl of water near the food.
- Leave enough food but not too much to become lazy to search for its food and become dependent on you.
- Feed them during seasons when their food is scarce in the wilderness, like during winter.
- Regularly clean your feeding utensils to avoid contamination and the spread of diseases.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
1. Can foxes climb fences?
Yes, foxes have claws that enable them to climb up a fence of up to six feet high
2. Can foxes jump up a fence?
Yes, foxes have the potential of jumping off a fence which is three meters high
3. Can foxes be pets?
No, despite their deceiving friendly appearances, do not make them your pet as wild animal will always be wild.
4. Can foxes swim?
Yes, foxes are like cats and can swim pretty well, and they truly do swim
5. Can foxes climb trees?
Yes, Foxes can climb up trees and especially the grey species
6. Can foxes eat chocolate?
No. Chocolate is poisonous to a fox and any animal of Canidae family.
7. Can foxes eat raw chicken?
Yes, foxes can eat chicken raw or cooked their primary diet is meat
8. Can foxes eat chicken bones?
Yes, foxes eat a wide variety of diet and can therefore eat chicken bone without any problem
9. Will foxes attack humans?
No, foxes are not a threat tohuman as they are higher in the food chain
10. Will foxes attack cats?
No, foxes belong to the same family as cats and therefore pose little or no threat to them
Summary
While foxes are omnivorous, you would expect them to eat fruit and vegetable only. However, they have a diverse diet which includes meat hunted at night and down.
Meat is their primary food diet, and they only eat vegetables when there is scarcity. As such, there is a wide range of food that you can feed foxes, but some are poisonous and should be avoided. However, do not try to tame a fox as a wild animal will remain to be wild.
FAQs
What do foxes eat for their diet? ›
Foxes have a really diverse diet. They are expert hunters, catching rabbits, rodents, birds, frogs and earthworms as well as eating carrion. But they aren't carnivorous - they are actually omnivores as they dine on berries and fruit too.
What do true foxes eat? ›Foxes are omnivores. This means that they eat meat and vegetation. A fox's diet can consist of small animals, such as lizards, voles, rats, mice, rabbits and hares. They round out their diet with birds, fruits and bugs, according to the Smithsonian.
What food attracts foxes? ›The best way to feed foxes in your garden is to try and replicate their natural diet. Primarily this means meat protein so leave out cooked or raw meat, tinned dog food, or specially-formulated fox food like Wild Things. Your foxes will also be pleased with treats like unsalted peanuts, fruit and cheese.
What do foxes eat in a day? ›Nonetheless, it is generally considered that a fox needs to eat roughly 500 grams (just over one pound) of food per day.
Does fox eat fish? ›In the wild, foxes will eat a wide variety of foods, although their diet is primarily meat-based. Generally, they will hunt animals when available but will settle for plants when they can't catch meat. In particular, they enjoy high protein, fatty foods like fish, eggs, and birds.
Will a fox eat a banana? ›Banana eating a fox!! - YouTube
Do foxes eat plants? ›Since foxes like to eat a variety of fruits and vegetables, they tend to root in gardens for meals. In addition to eating plants, the pests also burrow into flower beds, which kills vegetation.
What fruit do foxes eat? ›Foxes will eat both wild and cultivated fruits (in some instances vegetables and crops, such as corn and barley, too) and those most commonly consumed include blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, cherries, persimmons, mulberries, apples, plums, grapes, dates, figs and even acorns.
What does fox drink? ›What Do Foxes Drink? Foxes drink water, they'll drink from rivers, ponds, and puddles or, if you leave one outside and the fox is feeling bold it might drink from your dog or cat's water bowl.
Do foxes like eggs? ›To feed, raw, unprocessed food is best: meat scraps, raw whole eggs in their shell, peanuts, seeds, ripe apple and pear slices etc. If fed cooked meat, make sure it is off the bone as the bones are a choking hazard for the foxes.
What plants do foxes eat? ›
Plants. Red foxes eat a lot of plants including grasses, acorns, tubers, grains, and even fungi. Although Red foxes enjoy vegetation, in the autumn, they prefer to eat fruits. Cherry, persimmon, mulberry (blueberry), grape, plum, apple, and raspberry are some of their favorites.
How often do foxes eat? ›How often do Foxes eat? Because of their incredible sense of hearing, foxes will attack prey as often as they locate one and as long as they are hungry. These canids will eat as long as the food is readily available and consume anything between the amount of 0.5 and 1 kilograms of food every day.
Do foxes eat rice? ›Foxes do not eat grains in the wild; therefore, you should avoid feeding things like wheat, rice, oats, and other grain matter in their food. Since foxes instead eat small prey such as mice and birds that eat grains, this is how they get some of the carbohydrates they need.
Do foxes eat bread? ›Being carnivores, they like cooked or raw meat and tinned pet food. Foxes also like other savoury items such as cheese, table scraps, bread soaked in fat, fruit and cooked vegetables.
Do fox eat cats? ›Do foxes eat or attack cats, dogs or other pets? A typical adult cat is almost the same size as a fox and has a well-deserved reputation for self-defense, so foxes are generally uninterested in taking on cats. Kittens and very small (less than five pounds) adult cats, however, could be prey for a fox.
Do fox eat snakes? ›They are omnivores and eat almost anything they can find. This includes smaller animals such as rodents, rabbits, lizards, snakes, and amphibians. It also includes plant matter such as berries, nuts and seeds. With such a broad diet red foxes are sure to find something to eat in almost any environment.
Do foxes like spicy food? ›You might be surprised. Foxes have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can take advantage of this trait by using scents they dislike, such as chili and cayenne pepper (which are made up of Capsaicin), garlic, white vinegar, and the scent of humans nearby.
Can foxes eat chocolate? ›Things you should NOT feed them are: - Chocolate: this tasty treat for humans is poisonous to canids. They can't digest it. It can make them very sick and even kill them (though if you have been feeding chocolate to foxes, don't feel guilty.
Do fox eat apples? ›Foxes seem to particularly enjoy eating wild apples. Foxes are mainly carnivorous, so most of their diet consists of small animals. Foxes feed on things like mice, birds, voles, eggs and amphibians.
Do foxes eat dead foxes? ›Foxes are opportunistic omnivores, whose diet includes rodents, berries and carrion. A study of the scat and stomach contents of road-killed specimens (to assess whether cannibalism could explain the transmission of a parasite) indicated that their diet includes cadavers of their own kind.
Do foxes eat potatoes? ›
Foxes will eat vegetables! In the wild foxes will forage for vegetables, and even dig up potatoes and other root vegetables. For a pet fox, you can provide them with mixed frozen vegetables, or potatoes and tomatoes as part of their daily diet.
Do foxes eat bones? ›Foxes will eat a wide range of foods. They are carnivores so like cooked or fresh meat and can cope with chicken bones without problem.
Do foxes eat lemons? ›Foxes, on the other hand, do eat lemons - and apples and peaches and many other fruits too.
Do foxes like flowers? ›Flowerbeds, planter boxes, potted plants, vegetable patches and seeded areas are all places foxes gravitate towards.
Do fox eat tomatoes? ›Fruit and vegetables for foxes
Foxes love vegetables like frozen vegetables, cherry tomatoes, and they would eat them all through the day.
Yes, foxes eat carrots. Wild foxes eat carrots that they forage and foxes in captivity can be given carrots. Vegetables are usually given in amounts of teaspoons or tablespoons, a few teaspoons for small foxes like fennec foxes, and few tablespoons for larger foxes.
Do foxes eat sweet corn? ›As MJ says, fox will eat not just sweetcorn, all sorts, including raspberries.
Can foxes have alcohol? ›Do not give foxes pork or pork based products or treats. In addition to pork, chocolate, raisins, grapes, onions, avocados, caffeine, and alcohol are also off limits. If in doubt as to whether a food is safe for your pet, don't feed it. If it is not safe for dogs, don't feed it to foxes.
Do foxes drink salt water? ›He recalls an Australian laboratory experiment that found flying foxes prefer drinking diluted seawater over fresh water. “Belly dipping is a very common behavior in flying foxes,” he says, noting that they could be trying to cool off on hot days. “What is less common is that they do it in seawater.”
Do fox eat dead animals? ›Foxes are opportunistic eaters. They won't pass up a good meal, even if they didn't kill it. So, dead carcasses that a fox comes across are open game. They're also surplus killers, which means they'll kill more than they can eat at once, hiding the food for later consumption.
Will a fox eat a cat? ›
Do foxes eat or attack cats, dogs or other pets? A typical adult cat is almost the same size as a fox and has a well-deserved reputation for self-defense, so foxes are generally uninterested in taking on cats. Kittens and very small (less than five pounds) adult cats, however, could be prey for a fox.
What foods are poisonous to foxes? ›...
Table of Contents
- Grains.
- Grapes or Raisins.
- Tomatoes, Peppers, or Green Eggplant.
- Chocolate and Coffee.
Generally we suggest people don't feed foxes, because it will undermine their territory if they can't be bothered to go farther afield. Also, foxes don't just take what they need – they take what's available and bury it for later.
What are 3 interesting facts about foxes? ›- Foxes are great night-time predators. ...
- Foxes are considered to be solitary animals. ...
- Foxes can make over 40 different sounds. ...
- Foxes make use of the earth's magnetic field to hunt. ...
- People used to fear foxes but they are actually considered friendly animals.
Foxes will eat dead cats and other dead carcasses, known as carrion. If a fox is eating a cat, there is a good chance the cat was already dead. Foxes will scavenge from roadkill, and carcasses left behind by other carnivorous predators.
Will foxes eat dogs? ›Even for small dogs, it's a rare occurrence. However, you should definitely be aware of the potential danger and take steps to mitigate it. Foxes don't often attack and eat dogs, but any hungry wild predator could be a danger to any domesticated animal that's small enough to be a meal!
Do foxes eat dog poop? ›Dog poo forms a significant part of the diet of red foxes living in pine forests in the Scottish Highlands, a study has revealed. Researchers found that dog faeces has a calorific content similar to foxes' wild prey. But it is much easier to "hunt" - with the foxes feeding on it especially when wild prey is scarce.
Can a fox eat chocolate? ›Things you should NOT feed them are: - Chocolate: this tasty treat for humans is poisonous to canids. They can't digest it. It can make them very sick and even kill them (though if you have been feeding chocolate to foxes, don't feel guilty.
Will a fox eat an egg? ›Foxes. Foxes generally carry eggs away from nests. They may then eat them or they will cache (bury) them for consumption later. The whole egg is taken in the mouth, crushed and the contents eaten.
Do foxes like spicy food? ›You might be surprised. Foxes have a strong sense of smell, which they use to find accessible food sources. You can take advantage of this trait by using scents they dislike, such as chili and cayenne pepper (which are made up of Capsaicin), garlic, white vinegar, and the scent of humans nearby.
What does fox drink? ›
What Do Foxes Drink? Foxes drink water, they'll drink from rivers, ponds, and puddles or, if you leave one outside and the fox is feeling bold it might drink from your dog or cat's water bowl.
How much food does a fox eat per day? ›Diet: As an omnivore the fox eats invertebrates, fruits and vegetation, small birds and mammals. It eats between 1 and 2 lbs. each day.
Do fox eat apples? ›Foxes seem to particularly enjoy eating wild apples. Foxes are mainly carnivorous, so most of their diet consists of small animals. Foxes feed on things like mice, birds, voles, eggs and amphibians.
What are 4 Interesting Facts about foxes? ›- Foxes are more like cats than dogs. Similar to cats, foxes are nocturnal. ...
- Foxes live in underground dens. ...
- Foxes are smelly. ...
- Foxes make 40 different sounds. ...
- Foxes are solitary. ...
- Foxes have impeccable hearing. ...
- Foxes are extremely playful. ...
- There are two types of foxes in the Carolinas.
Although rabbits, mice, and other rodents are their favorite meals, red foxes will eat birds, frogs, snakes, grasshoppers, and even berries. An extra-hungry red fox will also jump into an open garbage can for tasty leftovers or nibble on food that's been left out on the porch for someone's pet.