Grey fox vs Reds

[1bludawg]

You have to wonder how a dog can tree one when you see them run.They seem to be flying when they run across the road.They are so agile they make a bobcat look clumsy!I saw one go up a tree once and it reminded me of a grey squirrel.However for as small as they are they give off a lot of scent when jumped and that enables a good dog to tree them under summer like conditions.We have red fox to but they hang out in the low lands,usually farm land and private property .Here's one (grey)that was forced to climb !

[TomJr]

They do run fast... every time I see one in front of my dogs its pulling away and fast. With less brush on the hill sides I have been able to watch parts of the races lately and noticed that many times one or more dogs will leave the trail and cut to where the Fox is going to shorten up the race.

The most memorable race this past season was one where the fox ran up my leg! I was standing on a trail watching my dogs work over a big rock pile when out pops a fox, not more than 5 feet in front of Jake(walker/lab). Fox was leaping from rock to rock with Jake almost catching its tail each jump. This was back when I still had Buster(black mouthed curr RIP). Buster saw it coming and tried to jump up and catch it but miss-timed his leap and he and Jake crashed into each other in mid-air. The fox hit the trail and ran right at me. I think it thought I was a tree because it climbed my leg then pushed off my hip and ran strait down the mtn side. Dogs in hot pursuit but they had fallen back 50-100yards by the time it treed 7 feet off the ground in a manzanita bush less than a 1/4 mile away. That was not going to last. As soon as the dogs hit the bush the fox was off again and I lost sight of the race as they came back up hill and then over a small ridge. It ended up treed in a big dead pine. I let that one go because it felt he earned it... can't say we didn't take him later though, foxes look pretty much alike

[mike martell]

We also have an orchard and that draws in fox, they love apples.

I always looked at the Grey fox as being more of a carnivore. My crop producing buddy is pleased I have taken an interest in running them with my dogs in S.W. Oregon, he produces wine grapes and grapes are a dietary mainstay of the Grey fox. I trapped them in live traps prior to running them with the hounds and found pears work real well for trap bait.

I would not over look the orchards mentioned by Tom Jr. as a place to find more Grey fox to run with your hounds, any place you would look to start a bear you will find these little buggers to be the same....Last year was a first for me and given I only ran a limited amount, I'm hooked and looking back almost three decades of watching them scamper across the gravel roads, I think, what a pile of good races I missed out on for calling them trash!

Mike

[TrophyHusband]

With the wolf numbers up here in northern WI the coyotes are down and both the red and gray fox are on the rise. I have been tempted to start running fox with my Trigg pups this winter.

Is anyone running fox in the deep snow or is it all dry ground? Can the dogs keep up in the snow or do they fall behind because the fox can run on top?