Animals depending on the cultural and historical context dogs either rule as man’s best friend, or they get classified as both pests and menu items.
The animals known around the world as Canis lupus familiaris are the domesticated versions, bred throughout thousands of years to either help humans in a work task or to keep them company. The animals known around the world as Canis lupus familiaris are the domesticated versions, bred throughout thousands of years to either help humans in a work task or to keep them company.
Fox Species
Four fox species inhabit different areas of the United States:
The Red Fox
Gray Fox
Arctic Fox
Kit Fox
The picture shows a Kit Fox. It’s a Southwest resident with some additional Western spillover. They are the smallest of the wild dogs
Nothing says fox like a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) pictured at the top of the page. In fact, one might say it’s a fox so nice they named it twice, and it holds the record as the widest range of not only all the Canids but all of the Carnivores. Highly adaptable, it occupies a variety of North American ecosystems from the Arctic Circle, south to the Florida peninsula.
While they are known to live around residential areas, they are normally wary of human presence. Within their territory, often they can be viewed from a distance on a sunny day taking in some rays and scouting their territory. Contrary to the name, the Red Fox comes in a variety of colors, including Red, White, Silver (or black), and Cross (Red with a black stripe).
Gray Fox is not quite as wide-ranging as the Red Fox, however, they can be found in most areas of the United States except for the Pacific Northwest and Upper Rocky Mountains.
The white coat of hair is an easy way to identify the Arctic fox. Actually, their coat changes color according to the season to help with camouflage. During the summer season the coast changes to brown. They can be found along the coastal areas of Alaska.
Wild Dogs
In addition to foxes, coyotes and wolves constitute the remainder of North American wild dogs. Nothing quite says home on the range like the howl of the Coyote (Canis latrans) or a wolf at night.
Coyotes are native North American wild dogs with roots from Alaska to Florida. Unlike their larger relatives, the wolves, coyotes live in small family units rather than large intra-family packs. Occasionally young transients will encroach on an established territory and temporarily join a family pack.The average coyote size is similar to a medium-sized domestic dog. Males can weigh in at the forty-pound mark, with females often weighing up to twenty-five pounds. Like dogs, they easily adapt to human surroundings. Despite their similarities with domesticated dogs, conflating coyote behavior and pet dog behavior can be problematic. In some urban and suburban areas, for example, pet owners receive alerts to keep an eye out for coyote attacks, less their pets become coyote meals. Also unlike dogs, after centuries of hunting, coyotes are wary of human presence, and they often make their appearance in residential neighborhoods during nighttime hours.
Wolves
Perhaps the title of most controversial Canid species gets reserved for the Gray Wolf (Canis lupus).
Once it ranged extensively through the Northern Hemisphere. Hunted close to extinction, in 1973 they received protection under the terms of the Endangered Species Act. Their subsequent reintroduction to areas of the Pacific Northwest, Upper Midwest, and Southwest continues to spark controversy.
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