Unit 1 [PDF] - Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources

Lures and baits for red or gray
fox:
• Commercial lures
• Fox urine
• Tainted meat bait
Skunk musk
Coyote.
Front
Rear
Coyote tracks.
Front
3” width by 3.5” length
Rear
2.5” width by 2” length
Chapter 4 - Wisconsin’s Furbearer Resource
fox is shy and seldom seen and usually is most active at night. During the day
it rests in dense thickets. The home range of the gray is one square mile or less.
Habitat:
Gray fox are found in eastern states, the southern third of western states and
along the West Coast in varied habitats with a preference for more wooded
areas. Gray fox primarily inhabit deciduous forest areas of southern Wisconsin,
although they may be found in almost any area of the state. They prefer
denser, brushy cover, and avoid open forest areas. Gray fox and red fox are
rather intolerant of one another, but since their specific habitat preferences often
separate them spatially, they often occupy the same general areas. There are no
records of the two species crossbreeding. Bobcats, domestic dogs and coyotes
prey on gray fox.
Sign:
The gray fox track is smaller and rounder than that of the red fox and, except
for the claw marks, might be mistaken for that of a bobcat. Scat is similar to
scat of the red fox.
Trapping Techniques:
The same tactics used for red fox will work for gray fox, the only difference
being that the sets must be in or near woody cover which is the gray’s preferred
habitat.
Coyote
Canis latrans; Order Carnovora; Family: Canidae
Description:
Coyote are medium to large canines normally mottled with gray, but sometimes
brown, reddish or black. Average weights of coyote in the west are 25-30
pounds, but the animals are larger in the eastern United States, with some
weighing as much as 60 pounds. Coyote are intelligent and adaptable, living
in a wide variety of habitats including urban and suburban areas. Coyote are
abundant and they have become less wary of humans in recent years. Attacks
on people and pets have been documented in North America.
Biology:
Coyote breed in late January and February, with a gestation period of 63
days. An average of 5-7 pups are born in April or early May in a den dug into
loose soil or enlarged from one dug by another animal. The pups stay with the
adults until autumn or mid-winter, when they disperse to find there own home
territory.
Wisconsin Trapper Education Manual 40