Blonde red fox?

[Kain]

Any of you guys ever seen one?  I was out calling today and on my last stand I called in what I thought must have been a fox but it was colored just like a coyote.  Blonde/gray but small, low to the ground and a really long tail.  I didnt get to see it long enough to get a shot so it is possible it is just a small coyote. 

[boneaddict]

Probably a young coyote...but didn't see it.

[Kain]

Yeah it doesnt appear to be a very common color phase for red fox.  This is really close to what I saw, just seemed to be the wrong size and shape for a coyote.  



BTW this is a red fox from Mongolia.

[demontang]

Its possible, I could swear that I saw a grey fox last weekend and I could have shot it but I didn't because I wasn't sure what it was before it disappeared in to the sage.

[Kain]

Apparently they are called cross fox and are a normal color for red fox.  Now Im pretty sure that is what I saw and that is probably what Demontang saw also.  Cool

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2334/2229215296_eba8cfcd69.jpg%3Fv%3D0&imgrefurl=http://flickr.com/photos/dave_stiles/2229215296/&usg=__9-NvCltl-rZ2YSsYrfQxmrPGi0w=&h=500&w=400&sz=184&hl=en&start=86&sig2=I49IfcHTwaf0-Jq16p7d2g&tbnid=-aH0FRMUee9mXM:&tbnh=130&tbnw=104&ei=Be57SbCSA5amsQO9s5kb&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dcross%2Bfox%26start%3D84%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_enUS291US303%26sa%3DN

[demontang]

What I saw looked a lot like this

[Kain]

Image results for "cross fox".  Bunch of different colors.  Crazy

http://images.google.com/images?ndsp=21&hl=en&rlz=1C1GGLS_enUS291US303&q=cross+fox&start=0&sa=N

[demontang]

What are they crossed with.

[Kain]

What I saw looked a lot like this

I didnt see any picture of cross fox that look like that.  Is it possible it is a gray fox in Washington?  According to the trapper guide there are two subspecies of fox in Washington: "Lowland" or introduced red fox and Cascade Mountain red fox.

[Kain]

What are they crossed with.

Nothing,  that is just the name of the color.  There are black, silver, and cross as well as red color phases.

[demontang]

I almost shot it, but figured if I did it would be protected and I would be in trouble for it.


I see just another name for a red fox.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Cross fox is a specific color phase, with black down the back and front legs.  When you rug them, the black down the back and front legs makes a cross, hence the name.  You can kind of see it in that pic with the gal and the rug on the wall in Kain's image results post link.

Most range maps show the west coast range of gray fox ending at the Columbia River in Oregon.  With bridges, dams, trains and vehicles crossing all the time, it's only a matter of time before they establish in WA; the Columbia is no longer a perfect barrier. 

[Bofire]

 :)I have seen Reds from really light, almost blondish, to really dark. Down around Boise I saw some reds that looked almost black.