DNR looking for gray foxes in Leelanau County
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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources is looking for Gray fox in Leelanau and all of Michigan & hoping you can help them pinpoint where they live:
The DNR recently partnered with Northern Michigan University, Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Sault Tribe of Chippewa Indians and The Little River Band of Ottawa Indians to conduct a research project on both red and gray foxes, with some results suggesting gray foxes may be much rarer in Michigan than previously believed.
To better understand their distribution across the state, wildlife researchers are launching a statewide effort to collect gray fox observations from the public. If you’ve seen a gray fox, whether recently or years ago, the DNR wants to hear from you. Photographs are especially valuable because they help researchers confirm sightings and gain more clarity on where gray foxes are living in Michigan today.
“Gray foxes are one of Michigan’s least understood mammals,” said Cody Norton, DNR furbearer specialist. “By sharing sightings and photographs, residents can help us get a better sense of where these animals occur and provide information that will shape future research and conservation efforts.”
Gray fox are an important furbearer species found in Michigan. Surveys and local observations suggest the gray fox’s population and range have declined in Michigan and throughout the Midwest during the past several decades. However, very little research has been done on gray foxes in the Midwest until recently. Any gray fox observations (recent or from past years) you report below will help inform their management in the State. If you have any photographic evidence, please upload it at the bottom of the form. For help identifying whether or not the animal you observed is a gray fox, look for:
- Primarily grizzled gray with reddish coloration on their legs and necks, and white or cream-colored bellies and throats.
- Gray foxes usually have a distinct black stripe down the top of their tail ending in a black tip. There usually is not a white tip like on red foxes.
- Two black lines can be found on the muzzle behind the nose.
- Backs of ears are gray and reddish brown, unlike the black-backed ears of red foxes.
- Gray foxes average 8-12 pounds.
