Swift Fox

By Sarah

APPEARANCE

The Swift Fox is a member of the dog family and related to the coyotes, wolves, dogs and other foxes. The Swift fox is extirpated from Manitoba. There is a small group of 150-200 on the southern prairies of Alberta and Saskatchewan. The Swift fox got its name from how swiftly it runs. The Swift fox weighs up to 2 or 3 kilograms. It grows to be about the size of a house cat. The Swift fox's throat, shoulders, chest, back of ears and legs is a light buff. It also has black patches by its nose. The Swift fox's under fur is thick. The guard hairs are spread out. The Swift fox's forehead, back and tail is gray. Inside of its ears is white. Its summer coat is thin and its winter coat is thick for warmth.

HABITAT

The Swift fox lives in dens. They live on mixed grass prairies and shrubby deserts. They live in Southern Alberta, Northern Texas and Western New Mexico.

FOOD

The Swift fox eats small animals, reptiles, amphibians, meadow larks and lark buntings. They will also eat fish, insects, mice and grasshoppers. Sometimes they'll eat berries and grasses.

WHY EXTIRPATED?

The Swift fox is extirpated because it's hunted for it's fur. Farmers turn their habitat into farmland. They often are poisoned or caught in traps set out for other animals.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

We can encourage farmers to view the Swift fox as a producer not an enemy. We can support conservation groups to help get the word out that killing Swift foxes is bad because they can become extinct soon. We can also sign up at the Canadian Wilderness Charter to help others learn about the Swift fox.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1."Swift fox." Hinterland Who's Who Ottawa: Canadian Wildlife Service, 1993.

2.Rasmussen, Ray " Swift Fox" Canadian Green Links http://www.doe.ca/envcan/docs/fox/fox.html

3. "Swift fox" World book Multimedia Encyclopedia Chicago: 1996 CD ROM