Bioacoustics of Vulpes vulpes

Movements, Home range and Social organization. The basic social unit is a pair, but groups with up to six members (usually one adult male and 2-5 probably related females) may share a territory, depending on habitat. Range size is habitat-dependent and can vary from less than 0-4 km ? to over 40 km ®. There are reports of overlapping home ranges in some urban and rural environments, and of drifting territories in other urban settings. Mating behavior is highly variable, either monogamous pairs, a single male with two breeding females that may or may not share a communal den, or a single breeding female with several non-breeding female helpers. There is always only one breeding male in the group, although additional matings do occur outside the group. Territorial males make frequent excursions beyond their territories during the mating season, during which itinerant males also make incursions into territories. There is socially-mediated suppression of reproduction amongst females, with lowest productivity tending to occur where fox density is high or food supply poor. Where food is not limited, social status itself can suppress reproduction, with only the dominant female breeding. Behavioral mechanisms by which this occurs include harassment of subordinates, infanticide and cannibalism of subordinate vixens’ pups. A hormonal mechanism whereby stress leads to lowered productivity through fetal reabsorption has also been identified. In populations where productivity is low, reproductive performance is suppressed consistently at all stages of pregnancy from conception to birth. Juveniles may disperse between six and twelve months of age, mostly between October and January. All or most males disperse, but the proportion of each sex dispersing varies among habitats and may depend on extent of mortality (e.g. due to rabies or control). Males typically disperse farther than females. Dispersal distances generally range from less than 5 km to more than 50 km , but distances of up to 394 km have been recorded in the USA . Red Foxes communicate with facial expressions, vocalizations, and scent marking. Scent marking involves urine and feces, anal sac secretions, the violet or supracaudal gland (more active in males during breeding season), and glands around thelips, in the angle of the jaw, and between pads of the feet. Some 28 different categories of vocalization have been described, used to communicate over long distances and at close quarters.