Red Fox facts for kids
Fox cubs play-fight to practise hunting, and foxes can hear a mouse under the snow.
Wildlife · Forests, fields and quiet town edges
- Feelings
- Foxes wag their tails, squeak with excitement when friends arrive, and play long after they are grown up.
- Clever thinking
- Foxes solve puzzle feeders, remember hiding places for hundreds of buried snacks, and learn traffic patterns in cities.
- Friendships
- Fox families share babysitting — older brothers and sisters help feed and guard the new cubs.
- How they talk
- Foxes make more than 20 different sounds, from 'wow-wow' barks to gentle greeting whimpers.
- Babies
- Cubs are born blind in a cosy den and first peek outside at about four weeks old.
- Superpower
- Super-hearing — a fox can hear a watch ticking 40 metres away and a mouse squeaking under deep snow.
Did you know?
- A fox's tail is called a brush and works like a warm scarf in winter.
- Foxes pounce head-first into snow to catch mice they cannot even see.
- City foxes learn the rhythm of traffic lights to cross roads safely.
Quick answers
Do red foxs have feelings?
Foxes wag their tails, squeak with excitement when friends arrive, and play long after they are grown up.
How smart are red foxs?
Foxes solve puzzle feeders, remember hiding places for hundreds of buried snacks, and learn traffic patterns in cities.
Do red foxs have friends?
Fox families share babysitting — older brothers and sisters help feed and guard the new cubs.
How do red foxs talk to each other?
Foxes make more than 20 different sounds, from 'wow-wow' barks to gentle greeting whimpers.
What is the superpower of red foxs?
Super-hearing — a fox can hear a watch ticking 40 metres away and a mouse squeaking under deep snow.
Facts are based on published animal-behaviour research. Grown-ups can find sources on the Parents & Teachers page.