The result - the introduction of the larger Red Fox finding a new home in the New World of a colonizing New England, and becoming just another non-native wild species imported during the boon of said colonization.īut is it as simple as gray foxes are native and red foxes are not?
Rumor has it, the smaller Gray Fox, with the natural adaptation to scale and climb trees, became less engaging for fox-hunting settlers, as their fox hounds would lose scent once the indigenous canines were driven to the treetops. As I became more enthralled with the biological characteristics of wildlife species as a young adult, it was also well established amongst wildlife professionals and fur trappers alike that only one of these two fox species were native to North America.īy the 1700s, early English settlers were prompted to import Red Foxes (vulpes vulpes) from their native homelands of Europe for sport hunting with hounds.
Growing up around furbearers, I made the physical distinction early on between our two New England resident fox populations - the often meek Gray Fox ( Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the slightly larger Red Fox ( vulpes vulpes).
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