Gray fox is a species of concern in Ohio
- John Lorson: The Rail Trail Naturalist
- March 31, 2025
- 737
In my last column, I wrote about the vast ancient forest that once covered Ohio and the three canine species that thrived there: the gray wolf, red fox and gray fox. Today the scene is quite different. The huge contiguous forest is gone, and most of the state’s open acres are involved in agriculture, dotted with smaller, largely disconnected woodlands. With the wolf chased off for good and the coyote — a smaller, more adaptable predator settled in to take its place — our two remaining native canids continue to roam if not necessarily thrive.
The red fox seems to be doing fine, and if anecdote can illustrate the situation in our area, I can report that over the past three years I have counted no fewer than seven road-killed red foxes along my daily bicycle route between Orrville and Wooster in Wayne County. That seems an exceptional number. And the gray fox? I haven’t seen a single one, living or dead, in years.
To a certain degree, the absence of the gray fox in my count is not much of a surprise as it is a creature of the forest. Uniquely adapted, it is one of only two canid species worldwide able to truly climb trees, the other being the Asian raccoon dog found in China and Japan, which looks like an oddball cross between a raccoon and badger. (Folks will tell you their hunting coon dog can do this, but unless it can hug a vertical trunk, shinny up like a bear and back down the same way, it’s not meeting the definition.)
Because of this adaptation, the gray fox can count apples, persimmons, grapes and, of course, the contents of bird nests in its diet.
What is alarming wildlife officials is what seems to be a decline in the population of gray fox across the Midwest. In 2017 it was listed as a “species of concern” in Ohio, but even with that designation, the gray fox remains one of the least studied canids in North America. One notable piece of data can be drawn from a comparison of harvest numbers between coyotes and gray foxes.
As coyote numbers have grown dramatically, gray fox numbers have dropped in almost shocking correspondence. For the coyote harvest to have grown so exponentially, there needed to be plenty of animals out there, and it’s no secret a coyote will kill a fox on sight and leave it lie. This is a “competitor cull” rather than a quest for food.
Fortunately, there are wildlife scientists on the case working to determine the true health of the gray fox population. At a recent Woodland, Water and Wildlife Conference hosted by Ohio State University, master’s degree candidate Hunter Slear shared a wonderful presentation of the work he is doing to track and study the gray fox here in Ohio.
This research, in close cooperation with Ohio’s Division of Wildlife and with the assistance of hunters and trappers, is a good example of the funding and stewardship provided by sportsmen and women afield. Funds generated through the consumptive outdoor sports benefit all wildlife, not only game species. Keep the tradition alive. Take a kid hunting or fishing today!
If you have comments on this column or questions about the natural world, write The Rail Trail Naturalist, P.O. Box 170, Fredericksburg, OH 44627, or email jlorson@alonovus.com. You also can follow along on Instagram @railtrailnaturalist.