A canid is a member of the dog family. Red foxes have the widest distribution of any canid. They live over more of the world than any other member of the dog family.

An adult red fox weighs from 3 to 14 kilograms (6.6 to 30.8 pounds). Its head and body are 45.5 to 90 centimeters long, not counting the tail. The tail is 30 to 55.5 centimeters long. A red fox can run about 30 miles per hour for a short time.

A red fox can hear low sounds very well, including rodents digging underground. It can also hear small animals it cannot see, such as a mouse under snow or hidden in leaves.

Red foxes are omnivores, which means they eat both plants and animals. A red fox eats about half a kilogram to one kilogram of food each day.

A mother and her kits stay together until the autumn after the kits are born. Red foxes are old enough to have kits of their own at about 10 months of age.

Red foxes live about 3 years on average in the wild. In captivity, they live 10 to 12 years.

Each red fox has a home range, the area where it lives. How big it is depends on its habitat, the kind of place it lives in, and on how much food is there.

Words to know

• canid: dog family member
• omnivores: eats plants, animals
• captivity: life with people
• habitat: kind of place