Are foxes scavengers3/17/2023 One interesting point about the interaction between foxes and bears is that bears will often steal the quarries of other carnivores, and foxes are no exception. Lean periods can push all animal species into desperate measures, forcing them to consume foods they would not normally include in their diet. If any of these large carnivores happened across a fox and killed it in a fight, they may take the opportunity to feast on the carcass but usually only when they are struggling for food. However, they would not kill a fox to eat it, it would be more or a territorial scrap. It has been suggested that, in countries where the number of stray or feral dogs around cities is higher, there are far fewer foxes. Where they occupy the same territory, conflicts often end in a bloody battle with foxes usually coming off worse.ĭomestic dogs have also been known to kill foxes. Both species are incredibly opportunistic and therefore their diets overlap significantly. Where humans have displaced wildlife by, for example, destroying natural habitats and intensifying agricultural land, adaptable species like foxes and coyotes have moved into urban areas. This could instead lead to a fox being displaced and forced to abandon the territory.įoxes and coyotes are clashing more and more regularly, particularly in urban areas in North America. In most cases, when a fox is faced with one of these species it would run away rather than enter into an energy-consuming (and potentially deadly) conflict. Killing a competitor to remove it from the territory is called competitive exclusion.Īll the large carnivores we have mentioned on the list above would win against a fox if the species were to fight, purely due to their size and weight compared to a fox. When the diets of carnivores overlap within a region, this can challenge the survival of the competing species and cause territorial fighting. Where a predator kills another predator, this is technically called superpredation. When a fox is killed by most other large predators including bears, wolves, coyotes, lynx, wild dogs, jackals, leopards, and wolverines, it is usually because foxes are in direct competition with these species. Predators are, by definition, animals which catch, kill and eat their prey. Smaller carnivores like wolverines, long-tailed weasels, skunks, ermine, and minkįirst of all, it is important to make a distinction between animals that would kill a fox in order to eat it, and those that would kill a fox to remove it as a threat.Larger carnivores like bears, wolves, coyotes, mountain lions, wild dogs, jackals, leopards, and lynx. Birds of prey including eagles, hawks, and owls.Here are some of the main species which would eat a fox: Let’s take a quick look at some of the animals we will be focussing on today. Join us to discover more! Quick List Of Animals Which Eat Foxes Here, we’ll take a closer look at some of the animals which eat foxes, the situation within which they would eat a fox, and some interesting anecdotal evidence. Whether or not an animal will eat a fox depends very much on the circumstances. Of course, there are many other scavenging species which will indiscriminately feed on the carcass of a fox they happen across. Otherwise smaller animals like wolverines, and even humans are some other top fox predators. Some of these include bears, wolves, mountain lions, and lynx. However, there are several animals which will happily catch and consume foxes including large birds of prey like eagles and owls, and larger carnivores which may eat the foxes they kill through efforts to remove competition within their territory. So it’s pretty hard to imagine anything that might hunt and eat a fox. These small but cunning canids are true survivors, equipped with brains, speed and agility. These opportunistic omnivores are always on the lookout for an easy meal, both catching and killing their own prey and scavenging for carcasses and human garbage. Foxes are crafty, specialised predators – in some areas of the world they are even the apex predator.
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