This beautiful fox mount is a color phase of the Red fox. It is a Red
Fox, but a trapper would call this one a Cross-Fox. There are other color
phases also such as the Silver Fox, which again is a red fox. The average
red fox weights in at just 10 pounds. They have long silky fur which makes
the animals look larger than they really are. They average just under
thirty inches long not counting the tail which is another 13 to 16 inches.
The animals are built for running. They can run run 30 miles an hour easily
and have been clocked at up to 45 miles an hour. Always moving, they usually
trot 6 miles an hour and they can keep up this this up forever.
Red Fox frequent farmlands and meadows that are bordered by woods where
they find there favorite food which is mice. They hone in on their prey
by hearing it squeak or rustle in the grass, and when pinpointed the fox
leaps in an arc and pins the mouse to the ground with its forefeet, then
biting down on the mouse killing it. They are fun and very amusing to
watch. During the summer foxes will eat lots of insects of all types,
but mostly grasshoppers, crickets and beetles. Fox also will eat birds
and other small animals they happen across. Good hunters, they can catch
many small game animals such as the snowshoe rabbit. The red fox is an
opportunist and will take whatever comes along.
Mr. Reimond Grignon likes to put as much expression into the faces of
his mounts as possible as shown by the close up picture of the fox to
the right. All the pictures on this page, in fact all the pictures in
these museum pages, are pictures of Mr. Grignon's mounts. They are not
pictures of live animals, sometimes it can be hard to tell because his
mounts look so completely lifelike. The red fox is one of the most beautiful
animals in the world. Their long silky orange fur is wonderful.
The fox pictured here is a silver fox mount Mr. Grignon mounted for our
small museum. It is still on display. World Compitition Winner.
This fox was caught in Dixmont, Maine. It is a perfect example of a
silver fox, which as stated above is just a color phase of the red fox.
Some people wonder why some years a few silver fox are seen where as in
other years none are seen. Silver fox are always "rare".
During years when there are lots of fox around. The female red fox will
kill any off colored pups she has. When foxes are scarce, as after a rabies
epidemic. Then the female red fox will let these off colored offspring
live. This is why silver fox are usually seen during years when there
are not many fox to be seen.