OUTFOXED

This clever critter almost always catches its prey.

BY JED WINER

A European red fox slinks along a hiking path, stalking its prey under nighttime cover. A human hiker would need a flashlight, but the fox’s night vision helps it spot a small rodent called a vole near the trail. The fox sneaks up on the tiny critter and pounces—it’s dinnertime. “These foxes are one of the most successful predators on the planet,” animal behaviorist Blake Morton says. Check out five things that make the European red fox a top hunter. 1. They hunt anything, anywhere. European red foxes live throughout much of western Europe, Asia, North Africa, and even in Australia, where Europeans brought them in the mid-1800s for sport hunting. So the canines evolved to hunt in a lot of different habitats—for a lot of different prey. “They can, and do, eat almost…

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National Geographic Kids (Digital) - 1 Issue, December 2024/January 2025

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