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Retractable claws are different from retractable toes...I have retractable toes. They appear to have feet just like a dog.

Dads dogboy wrote:Well, Radar, it seems that both you and Tom Jr. are right!

If you read the Heading on the PDF that John Porter posted, the Vermont Dept. of Fishand Game state that the Grey Fox has "Semi-retractable" toes.

The Post from Mr. Porter is a good read for all the Varmints listed.

Enjoy the Turkey today!

I too, found it very educational. Been a trapper/hounds men for 41 years and learned a few tidbits about different varmints. Glad you enjoyed it. I am always researching furbearers and varmints as one will never know all there is to this species.

It appears to be a mystery.
http://www.nationaltrappers.com/grayfox.html

If anyone has ever skinned out a grey fox foot, you would realize that they are exactly like a red fox, coyote or any other dog, and nothing like any type of cat. I've skinned out several hundred grey foxes, nothing at all retractable about them. Just because they like to climb doesn't mean they have claws like a cat. By all means post your pics to prove this fact wrong.

I will agree, after reading some of the articles posted their claws may not be retractable. But their claws are definitely designed different than that, of red or coyote. To me they are skinnier and more hooked, like a cat or even a bear. I don't think they "like to climb", I think they are designed too. The pics of the one Tom posted still looked that way, even after being ran and caught by dogs.

Not trying to argue with ya Mr. Dean, just had my own thoughts on the matter. Your probably more right than I. Take care

i treed a grey fox ,,just once -- in a straight up maple -- good 20 feet to first limb- thats the extent of my experience running them - i havent seen one in 25 years - i wished we had a few around ---

radar wrote:I will agree, after reading some of the articles posted their claws may not be retractable. But their claws are definitely designed different than that, of red or coyote. To me they are skinnier and more hooked, like a cat or even a bear. I don't think they "like to climb", I think they are designed too. The pics of the one Tom posted still looked that way, even after being ran and caught by dogs.

Not trying to argue with ya Mr. Dean, just had my own thoughts on the matter. Your probably more right than I. Take care

boy I enjoyed this thread. Thank you Tom Jr for going to the bother of taking and posting the photos. I just love Radar's persistence in the matter. He has more experience than most of us with grays and he has reasons based on his experience for believing the way he does. what I love about it was that even though it seems like all the evidence presented and all the popular opinion was stacked against him, he held his beliefs, and not quietly, but openly. I learned some things about gray fox in this thread, but I also learned some things about Radar. He is some one I would want on my side.

My experience with grays is so limited, but I have always felt there was something different about them. They have not fit perfectly into any category that my experience had for them. When I first looked at the first picture, I saw the claws coming forward because of the pressure Tom was putting on the pad, The same way I would make a cats claws come forward. In the following pictures I saw thin, sharp curved claws that are far enough back from the pads that they might not make contact with the ground. I was looking for that because gray fox often do not show claw marks in their tracks, even in snow.

Many a gray has been run by young cat hunters thinking this one is giving them the race of a lifetime. We have come on them doing just that. Of course this has never happened to us when we were young, happened to a friend or two. I kind of think that may be why people think small female bobcats are so hard to catch. When we have a smooth pair of dogs on a small female bobcat our experience is she is going to die on the ground fairly quickly if she chooses not to climb. That is why we quit putting down on them.

Tom lives in rocky country. I have seen coyotes in steep rocky country who left traces, or no claw marks in their tracks because their claws were worn short and stubby. I have seen dogs hunted in steep rocky terrain whose nails were never trimmed, and they barely had any because they were worn almost completely down to blunt stubs.

Look again at the photos of those claws from a gray fox in rough rocky country. Especially the middle two claws.

Worn perhaps more than a cats claws but...

I've only been running grey fox for about 4 yrs. now.One of the first things i did after treeing one was to check his feet ,toes and claws.The claws are not retractable.They do have more of a hook to them and are sharp.

Thanks for the kind words. Fox, sure are fun to chase and it takes a good all around hound to catch them. Fox and coon, are the only treeing game we can legally run here.