Prince Edward Island has red foxes Even on the outskirts of the city, it is not unusual to see one scurrying about. Although rare, you may see the occasional black or silver fox. They have their litter in the early spring and the young are take out to hunt in he summer. If you overlook a grassy area, especially on the North Shore, you may see a family of foxes moving about.
Although they often have a reputation for stealing chickens, that is a very rare occurrence. They most often feed on small game like rabbit, squirrel and ground nesting birds. When times are tough, they also feed on various berries and insects. Their thick coat makes them look bigger than they really are. Red Foxes weigh 4 to 7 kg (9 to 15 pounds).
Their reddish brown coat makes good camouflage in the summer. When there is snow on the ground, they stand out, giving opportunity for great shots like this one. But please, no matter how pretty they look, do not feed them. When the tourists feed the foxes, they forget how to hunt. When the tourists leave, the foxes lose their easy source of food. Furthermore, dependence on human feeding makes them seek out food and approach cars driving by. This can cause safety concerns: you could hit one who is jumping around cars, or one might get aggressive expecting to get fed. Foxes should naturally fear humans. Excessive feeding has made them seek out humans; so be careful.
So please enjoy PEI’s natural beauty. Take lots of pictures of the foxes and let them find their own food.
Granny ~oo~
We spent 8 days on the island and it was wonderful.
We did see a black/silver fox while there on a back red dirt road……what a joy it was to see this beautiful Fox.
Thanks
Bob & Connie
In the fall, the foxes become a bit more aggressive, with fewer tourists feeding them. Also the bright fall colours make them stand out a bit more.
We saw a black fox this evening in North Rustico by the harbor and we took a photo!
Wow Jim I have never seen a black fox here. Where can I see your photo?
Hi Guy
Just had the great experience of following a black fox along a road in North Rustico Bay. It was moving along the road in vicinity of scrubland between houses on the hill and seemed to be oblivious to our presence. We did get pics but not good as we struggled to get camera. It finally moved off into a back yard of a private residence where of course we could not follow. Hope you one day get to see such a sight.
Paul
Well Paul, you and Jim have been lucky to see a black fox. The best I have seen is the black tail of the red fox 🙂
I’d still love it if you send me a pic (good or not) and I’ll include it in this post as an update.
I was actually at PEI last week and did indeed see a black fox. It was Jet black and crossing the Road in front of me in the Park. It was a very cool site to see
A few days ago I saw a black fox in the Sobey’s parking lot. Actually those black foxes are really called silver fox – you can google images that and see. Wikipedia also has an article on silver foxes explaining the genetic anomaly.
Still they are an interesting sight.
Guy
My husband and I saw a jet black fox dart across the road from the driveway of the St. Lawrence Motel on Sunday, Sept.9,2012. We had never seen an all black fox before. Up the road closer to Cavendish, there were a couple of mooching groups of foxes. While most were the traditional red color, some were mixed. On one drive we counted 12!
We saw the same black fox again yesterday, Sept. 18th. It was sitting with its red friend on the bike route directly across the street from the St Lawrence Motel driveway. It was face on and appeared to be jet black with the exception of some silver hair in the “eyebrow” area. A real beauty!
We saw 13 different foxes as we drove along the more westerly Brackley Beach National Park road. What a great sighting.
Yes it is nice to see the foxes in Brackley and Cavendish; not so nice to see them scavenging in the city; I am concerned about the safety of our children. Still, they are a beautiful sight, even the scrawny looking ones.
We live in the UPEI area not too far from the old PVI Building and there is some woods and fields where the foxes live but spend a lot of their time roaming around the neigbhourhood, even crossing busy University Avenue traffic. Lately a pure black fox has been making his rounds on a daily basis, sometime more than once. All summer long there were three red foxes, one was a couple and the other one a loner, which the other two would put the run to and wouldn’t let him near them. The black or silver fox is handsome and the crows make such a clatter when he or the red foxes are on the go. They caw so loudly that it is a warning to the other crows that the fox is on the run. i don’t know if foxes eat crows but some people say they take cats but the ones in our yards are out with the cats and even play with some of them. Anyway, it sure is nice to be up front so close to these handsome animals. I hope the coyotes don’t move in as well.
Thanks for stopping by Mary.
I have often seen foxes either on the UPEI or experimental farm campus.
I also used to see black fox next to the West Royalty Sobeys. They would hang around looking for handouts at dusk. Now that vacant lot is being reworked for shopping centre expansion, I have no idea where the foxes went.
They were pushed into urban areas by the coyotes and now the urban areas are pushing back. We need to preserve some green space for these lovely creatures.
Obviously, you have never been to East Royalty. We have both red and black foxes and it is now not safe to let our cats out for a run as they have been cornered by two foxes who seem to “gang” up on them and because we were there and chased them off, the cats are still alive. We seem to have one family on the street that feeds these foxes and has many in their back yard. But, I love my cat and don’t want it to get eaten.
I know what you mean Edith.
I have a chihuahua and I saw him one night face to face with a fox. Than goodness it was just a staring contest. However, I don`t let him out alone at night any more. We have extensive gardens and lots of moles. I like the fact that the foxes help keep the population down but I dread what they might do to my dog.