Many people never get the chance to see the elusive Gray fox. This is mostly because they are more nocturnal and deep woods than the more commonly seen Red fox. Grays tend to be more secretive, hanging out more in the areas where raccoons are than in the open fields. Unlike Red foxes, Grays can climb trees. In fact ,grays share a lot of characteristics in common with raccoons. They are very susceptible to Distemper, so much so that simply using the wrong Distemper vaccine can cause a gray fox to come down with the disease. Even with great care, Distemper is not a disease they are likely to survive. Like raccoons, a rabid Gray fox can be quite aggressive and rabid gray foxes are often misidentified as Red foxes. This is probably because of the rust coloration around their ears and neck. It is my belief that when the Health Department lists the rabid animals throughout our state that they should not be lumping Red and Gray foxes into one “fox” category- Reds and Grays are two completely different animals. Photo of “Baby Fox” courtesy of photographer Robert Watroba