Foxes are medium sized mammals with upright ears, pointed snouts and bushy tails. Their fluffy exterior may sometimes make them look like cute and cuddly creatures, but they definitely are not.
Foxes are incredibly intelligent predators that are able to forage for food in extreme weather conditions, outwit predators, protect their young and use smart tactics to hunt and find their food. There’s a reason we use the simile, sly as a fox, as these animals are cunning, tricky, artful and very clever.
It is for these reasons that foxes are very talented predators and can thrive in a variety of habitats such as towns, cities, and rural areas, hunting for a range of animals.
If you are wondering what foxes eat, then this guide will tell you everything you need to know about what foxes hunt, whether foxes eat squirrels, and which animals actually eat foxes! So, what exactly do foxes eat?
What do foxes eat?
Foxes are extremely expert hunters, meaning that they can hunt a wide variety of animals, from rabbits to rodents, to chickens, frogs, earthworms, and even carrion. They have an incredibly diverse diet, as they can eat many different types of animals and animal flesh, but they are not strictly carnivorous.
Foxes are actually omnivores as they can eat various different types of fruit, berries and other foods like seeds and vegetables. For the most part, foxes are very versatile and adaptable.
This means that they can change their diet depending on what is available, which is why these creatures are so adept at surviving various weather conditions.
Foxes can eat different foods depending on their environment, and the weather. For instance, in the fall, foxes will eat fruit, berries, apples and blackberries or acorns that they can find in the wild, whereas in the summer months, they may eat insects, caterpillars and frogs, rodents or mice.
In the spring months, foxes may even eat bird eggs, worms, or even wade into water to find fish, mollusks and crabs to feast upon. In addition, foxes can even live in urban, built up areas, as they can forage and scavenge for food that they find in trash cans, or abandoned in outdoors areas and waste bins.
Do foxes eat squirrels?
Most foxes such as Arctic foxes and the common red foxes are considered to be mammalian predators. This means that they can eat many different types of prey including all types of squirrels. This is largely due to the fact that foxes live mostly in rural areas, and will reside in places where there is farmland, wetland or woodland where they can hunt for food.
As previously mentioned, foxes are omnivores, so they will literally eat anything they can get their paws on. Unfortunately, this means that yes, foxes will eat squirrels among many other small animals such as rabbits, mice, chipmunks, voles, birds, reptiles, and amphibians.
Some foxes, such as gray foxes can even climb trees and jump branches in order to catch their prey, so squirrels are no exception to this predator’s hunting abilities.
However, gray foxes are not the only animals or mammalian predators that like to eat various species of squirrel. Squirrels like the arctic ground squirrel can be hunted by red foxes, coyotes, arctic foxes, grizzly bears, wolves, lynxes, wolverines and ermines.
In addition, gray squirrels can be targeted by bobcats, red foxes, grey wolves, coyotes and even weasels. Whereas minks, lynxes, red foxes, and weasels can also hunt red squirrels too.
Why do foxes eat squirrels?
The main reason that foxes hunt and eat squirrels is because they are small types of prey that the fox can catch. As discussed, foxes can be scavengers, omnivores and opportunistic eaters, which means that they will dine upon anything that they can catch, hunt or find in order to survive.
Unfortunately, due to the fact that squirrels are smaller than the fox, and live in most of the same environments, they have become the natural prey of the wily and cunning fox.
What animals eat foxes?
Although foxes are very smart predators, they are not at the top of the food chain, and some animals will prey on the fox themselves. These animals are typically superior or larger than the fox, such as mountain lions, eagles, coyotes, leopards, bears, bobcats, wolves and lynxes.
However, foxes are also often also hunted by humans and their habitats have been destroyed by us, but there are still many species of foxes all around the world today.
Summary
To conclude, foxes are not carnivorous creatures, and are actually omnivores. This means that they prey upon mammals, and eat berries and fruits in order to survive. As squirrels are small mammals, they are naturally part of the food chain, and often become the prey of the sly fox.
