Why do fox bark

Bigger than a cat, smaller than a shepherd dog. Moves like a fox. November 3 at pm: Clear sky, moon on the wane. I saw moonlight coming through an upstairs window and looked out to see the moon. Then I saw a critter walking up the back alley in an area I could easily see.

The fox! She paused in clear sight and barked. I have seen more foxes in Pittsburgh this year than any other year. They are booming! The last few weeks around p. This Fox has done this motion severl times over these last two weeks it is in the same spot everytime. Foxes bark to claim and keep their territory and they repeat the call day after day to get the message across. Maybe this fox has a den or kits somewhere near your house.

What should we do we live in a farm area with 10 horses across the street and another horse farm right around the corner these are small ones not like the Ky. None of us would ever try to disturb anyones den area. Should I contact a Ranger or something?

Thank you. Foxes avoid people and dogs — for good reason, people use dogs to hunt them! When we had a fox in my neighborhood I went outdoors to look for it and noticed that as the fox went through the woods the cats crept out of the woods ahead of it. The cats did not run from the fox in terror — they just deliberately avoided the fox.

I am sure your cats knew the fox was there long before you did and have been avoiding it in their own way for months. For the most part, when making noise, foxes may howl and bark, sounding much like dogs in the distance. If you were not paying attention, you may even think that it is a neighboring dog that you are hearing. That is until the screaming commences. If you are unsure what a fox scream sounds like, then think of what it would sound like if someone nearby was screeching whilst being attacked or murdered… and you should be spot on!

So why do foxes make those horrible, blood-curdling noises that make your toes curl?! Well, for the most part, foxes will scream and howl or shriek as means of determining and defending their territory. Screaming in this sense is a way to ward off other foxes or predators, and keep rivals at bay. Screaming is also a way of communication for foxes. They may make these howling, screeching noises in order to call other foxes, or seek out a mate during the breeding season.

Although the noise of a screeching fox may sound like it is in pain, peril or being attacked, it is usually nothing to worry about, and is probably just a fox trying to claim its territory, so other foxes will back off! One of the more common reasons that foxes may scream is when they are mating, or trying to mate. Whilst male foxes may scream in order to confirm their territory, female foxes, or vixens will also scream during mating, or during the mating season to attract and lure mates.

The mating season takes place in January, and if you feed foxes in your garden you may have noticed that their visits have stopped, with mating taking priority.

Following the January mating season, vixens start finding a place to give birth and clear out potential den sites. With cubs born deaf, blind and unable to regulate their own body temperature, their mother rarely leaves them for the first few weeks — she gets her food from other adult foxes in the group.

Though they are solitary hunters, foxes do tend to live in small family groups that are mostly seen together during the breeding season. There are usually three to four adults in each group: a dog, a vixen and a few female helpers from previous litters. While foxes can be really noisy during the January mating season they are mostly silent at other times of the year, but do have a repertoire of around 28 different, subtle sounds that they use to communicate with each other.

In fact, each family group of foxes usually has more than one earth. During the summer months many foxes find sheltered places above ground to rest.

Though these are usually hidden spots in dense cover like bramble patches or piles of rubbish, you may be lucky enough to spot a fox napping in the sunshine out in the open. Some foxes share setts with badgers, taking over an abandoned section. Despite urban foxes being much easier to see than rural foxes, most foxes do live in rural areas such as woodland, farmland and wetland habitats.

Rural foxes are very shy and, unfortunately, have declined by 34 per cent since