..........Red Fox. Sorry, couldn't resist the tease!

My sister sent me this photo of a black color phase red fox. There are a lot of fox and coyote sightings in the Denver metro area, along with the odd black bear and cougar wondering in. My sis has a red fox that regularly walks across the top of her back fence in Littleton (Denver suburb).

What I wouldn't give..................

Steve Evans of Highlands Ranch took this photo of a black red fox on Feb. 15, 2012, who "was walking fences looking for food, e.g. birds, cats, or dog food."

Could it be a gray fox?

Wish he'd walk out in front on me.....

Cool looking critter there.

No, it is a Red.

"Red Foxes are small, active canids with a reddish-brown coat above, with white underparts except for a black tipped nose and lower legs. It also has a large, very noticeable, bushy tail that is white tipped. This species has several different color phases including a melanistic or black phase. This black phase often has white-tipped guard hairs that gives it a grizzled or silvery appearance; it is commonly called the silver fox. There is a “cross fox” color phase that has a blackish or brownish color across the shoulders and down the back. This is a common color phase throughout the Rocky Mountains. Average weight of red fox varies between nearly 8 to 15 pounds (3.6-6.8 kg). Total length is 35 to 40 3/8 inches (90-103 cm), tail length is 13 ¾ to 17 inches (35-43 cm)."

Honestly not trying to be a smart azz, but how do you know?

In my opinion you can tell by the body size and by its long legs. Grey's are little bitty boogers.

Red Foxes have a melanistic color phase, Grey's don't.

Also, the legs, etc. as pointed out above.

That's cool, I seen pics of a taxidermy collection that had all the color phases of reds. Can't remember how many variations there were but it was more than you would think.

Yep.

I'd love see one

I'd go pelletgun hunting there. Shrouded .25 cal AAA airforce condor shooting a .43 grain pellet at 1,100 fps and quieter than a cb short.

Awesome pic

I lived in Colorado 5 yrs about 3 yrs ago and we saw black fox's alot. I thought they were neat looking.

Nice pic...Her cam has a nice zoom..

I saw one like that in the Cascade mountains a couple years ago. Beautiful animals.

That is cool looking !!

Not the CO is northeast, but it seems there are more photos of melanistic coyotes and fox from the northeast.

Cool looking animals for sure

Bob - looks like a silver fox to me, had a fellow give me a hide many, many years ago since he didn't want it any longer and I sold it for $175 to a country fur buyer here in Texas. I could be wrong on the species, but my fur buyer asked me where I caught the Silver Fox and could I trap more? Had me wondering.

Beautiful animals though.

Would look good with my kit.

Very cool

Silver Fox is just another name for the black phase red fox.

i have a huge silver fox hide i bought from someone off the forum about a year ago.... its huge compared to the grey fox hides i have. got it really cheap too!

There are several phase colored red foxes near my cabin in Canada also. I've seen several along the highway up there, along with an occasional timber wolf (Canis Lupas). Thanks for sharing the great photo.