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Kit fox - VULPES MACROTIS
Endangered
Class: Animals with Milk Glands (Mammalia)
The Name "Kit": "Kit" is short for "kitten." "Fox" is an Old English word for the animal.
Location: Western United States.
Habitat: Terrestrial. Desert and semiarid regions.
Description: Like other foxes, the kit fox has a lean body, large ears, and a long, plume-shaped tail. The legs are long and slender. The color of the coat varies geographically; but is usually gray on the back, paler on the sides, and light buff to white on the underside. The tail is darker toward the tip. The female has 8 nipples. The length of the head and body is about 20 inches, with the tail adding 10 to 12 inches. They weigh three to six pounds.
Behavior: The kit fox hunts at night, and its diet consists mainly of rodents and rabbits. It also eats ground-nesting birds and reptiles. It spends the day in its den, which may have up to 24 entrances. Several dens may be grouped together in the same area.
Reproduction: The young are born in February or March after a gestation period of about 50 days. The four or five cubs are born blind and furred. After a month they venture outside the den to play. The family usually separates in October, but one or two of the cubs sometime remain in the den with the adults.
Note: This fox is threatened with extinction.
Go to the Carnivore Page to learn more about all the meat-eating animals.
Or go to the Fox Index to study other
foxes.
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