The Kit Fox 3 At Home in the Desert 4 Watching Foxes 8 Foxes of North America 10 Foxes at Risk 18 The Dog Family 20 Foxes on the Hunt 24 The Burrow 30 Family Life 32 Fox Talk 40 Dangers in the Wild 42 People and Foxes 44 Index 46
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We are grateful to the staffs and volunteers at the following zoos for their cheerful assistance while we were working on this project the Los Angeles Zoo the California Living Museum Bakersfield the Living Desert Wildlife and Botanical Park Palm Desert all in California the Baltimore Zoo Maryland and the Dakota Zoo Bismarck North Dakota We also appreciate the help of our friends Don Jim and Barney Schlinger And as always we thank our editor Andrea Curley for her continued support 1
THE KIT FOX As the afternoon sun sinks in the sky a kit fox rests on a rocky ledge and looks out on the surrounding desert landscape Its eyes and ears are alert as it watches for the movements of small animals in the shadows and listens for noises Soon the air will cool and it will be time for the fox to go hunting With sharp senses and quick reflexes the tiny kit fox is an expert at catching the leaping rodents scurrying lizards and unwary birds that are its food This wily and resourceful predator is the smallest North American fox It shares many characteristics with other kinds of foxes but it is unique in its ability to thrive in the dry and often extreme conditions of the desert 3
