Ezo Red Fox

Hokkaido, Japan

The ezo red fox (Vulpes vulpes schrencki) is a subspecies of red fox widely distributed in Hokkaido, Sakhalin, the Kuril Islands and the surrounding islands of Japan.

The Ezo red fox's formal name, Kitakitsune (北狐), was given to the subspecies by Kyukichi Kishida when he studied them in Sakhalin in 1924. In the Ainu languages it is known as cironnup, sumari, kimotpe or hurep.

The ezo red fox is somewhat larger than the Japanese red fox found in Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu, and the outer part of the ear and the limbs are black. There are many similarities with continental red foxes. Ezo red foxes range widely from grassland to alpine belts in Hokkaido. They mainly eat rats, mountain hares, birds and insects. They also eat fruit and nuts in autumn. In tourist spots and in some urban areas there are individuals who feed on the street. They have also been observed feeding on the placenta of cattle in pastures or at disposal facilities.

They dig holes or tunnels to make their lairs. The females give birth to kits in the early spring, which are grown and independent by late autumn. Males act independently and do not contribute to the raising of offspring.

Photographed on frozen waters off the Notsuke Peninsula.

As we were driving along trying to get to the end of the Notsuke Peninsula, just before we reached the Kitabe Defense Aizu Clan Honoring Monument, to our right, on the frozen waters, we spotted this Ezo Red Fox foraging. We scrambled out of the vans and tried to make our way gingerly across the ice.

Our first step off the road and we sank almost to our waists in the snow drifts along the banks. Finally we saw a narrow trail leading onto the ice. A quick slippery run across the ice for a couple of hundred meters to reach a reasonable distance to get on our bellies on the ice and wait for the fox to approach.

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