Gray Fox

Gray foxes hold a rare distinction among North American canids: they're the only one that climbs trees regularly, using semi-retractable claws and rotating wrists to scale vertical trunks in search of food, a den site, or a quick escape from predators. Their range runs broadly from southern Canada down to northern South America. A grizzled gray coat, rust-colored sides and legs, and a black-tipped tail separate them from the red fox, and they lean more strictly nocturnal and secretive, favoring wooded and brushy habitat over the open country red foxes tend to prefer.