The stunning Ezo red fox (Vulpes vulpes schrencki) or ‘Kitakitsune’ is a subspecies of our familiar red fox. They range widely in the Hokkaido area of Japan. Eating mainly hares, rats, birds and also fruit and nuts in autumn, they can also forage in urban areas and have permanently settled in green spaces in some towns and cities, such as Sapporo.
They make their homes in holes or tunnels, where the females give birth to kits in the early spring. These are raised exclusively by the female and are grown and independent by late autumn.
The Ezo red fox plays a large part in Japanese mythology as a ‘kitsune’ spirit that can possess people, generate fire and lightening and manipulate people’s dreams!
