What Is a Baby Fox Called? Fox Kits, Cubs and Family Life

Fox names: kits, cubs, vixens and tods

The same words are used for the red fox and for other foxes, including the Arctic fox and the fennec fox:

Reynard is an old name for a fox taken from medieval European fables about Reynard the Fox. A group name such as skulk is mostly a word game: red foxes rarely gather in groups other than a single family.

When are baby foxes born?

Red foxes breed once a year. In Europe and much of North America, mating happens in winter, mostly between December and February, which is when the eerie screams of vixens are most often heard at night. After a pregnancy of about 49–58 days, the kits are born in spring, mainly in March and April. Foxes in warmer regions give birth earlier, and those in the far north later.

The vixen gives birth in a den, also called an earth. It may be a burrow she has dug herself, an enlarged rabbit warren or badger sett, or, in towns, a hollow under a garden shed or decking. Foxes usually prepare several dens, so they can move the kits if one is disturbed.

How big is a baby fox?

Newborn red fox kits are tiny. They weigh about 56–110 g (2–4 oz), roughly as much as a small apple, and are about 14.5 cm (6 in) long, not counting the tail. They are born blind, deaf and toothless, with short legs, large heads and fluffy, dark chocolate-brown fur.

A litter usually has four to six kits, although up to 13 have been reported. Foxes in places where many adults die each year tend to have larger litters, which helps the population recover.

How fast do fox kits grow?

Fox kits develop quickly:

• Birth to 2 weeks. The kits stay in the den and feed on their mother’s milk. They cannot control their own body temperature, so the vixen stays with them almost all the time.
• About 2 weeks. Their eyes open, at first blue-gray, and their ears and first teeth develop.
• 3–5 weeks. The kits start to come out of the den to play near the entrance and begin eating solid food brought by the adults. Their dark coat gradually gives way to the reddish fur of the adults.
• 8–10 weeks. The kits are fully weaned and spend more time above ground, playing, pouncing on insects and exploring.
• 3–4 months. The young foxes are long-legged and lean and start to hunt with or near the adults.

Play is an important part of growing up. Fox kits wrestle, chase each other and pounce on leaves and beetles, practicing the skills they will need to catch voles and mice later in life. Learn more about their food in what do foxes eat?

Who raises the kits?

The vixen does most of the early care, but she is not alone. The father, the dog fox, brings food to the den while the vixen stays with the newborn kits, and he keeps feeding the family as the kits grow. If the mother dies before the kits are independent, the father may take over as their provider.

Many red fox families also include helpers. These are usually young females from the previous year’s litter that stay on in their parents’ territory. They guard the kits, play with them, groom them and bring them food. Helping relatives raise young is common in the dog family, and it is also seen in wolves.

When do baby foxes leave home?

Fox kits stay close to the den through the summer. By late summer they are nearly adult size and begin to travel and hunt alone within the family territory. In autumn, most young foxes leave home to find a territory of their own. This move, called dispersal, peaks between about September and December in Britain.

Young males usually travel farther than females, often several kilometers and sometimes many tens of kilometers. Some young females do not leave at all and stay on as helpers. Dispersal is one of the most dangerous times in a fox’s life, because young foxes must cross roads and enter strange territories; see how long do foxes live? Foxes that survive can breed in their first year, at about 10 months old.

Myths and facts about baby foxes

• Myth: a fox kit alone near a den has been abandoned. Fact: kits often play outside the den while the adults are away hunting. The parents usually return, and wildlife organizations advise watching from a distance and leaving the kits alone.
• Myth: the kit fox is a baby red fox. Fact: the kit fox (Vulpes macrotis) is a separate small species of the American Southwest and northern Mexico.
• Myth: foxes seen in daylight with young must be sick. Fact: parents with hungry kits often hunt in daylight in spring and summer.

Baby foxes of other species

Arctic fox kits are born in early summer in large dens that may be used for many years, and litters can be very big when lemmings are plentiful: more than 10 kits is not unusual in good years. Fennec fox kits are born in sandy burrows in the Sahara, usually two to four per litter. Whatever the species, baby foxes are called kits, cubs or pups. Find out where the different species make their homes in where do foxes live?