Swift and Human Interaction. The swift fox (Vulpes velox) is a small light orange-tan fox around the size of a domestic cat found in the western grasslands of North America, such as Montana, Colorado, New Mexico, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Today swift foxes still face habitat fragmentation and poisoning, along with predation by coyotes, badgers and eagles. detection, but Swift Foxes were present in fallow or harvested fields, which enhanced visual predator detection. Figure 2 illustrates the key habitat features for Swift Fox in Canada. Swift Foxes use burrows or dens throughout the year, making them the most den-dependent of the canids. Minimum habitat area The average adult swift fox frequents a core area of approximately 0.85 square miles. Grasslands are increasingly being degraded by human development, replaced by roads, buildings and agriculture. Description: Swift foxes are the second smallest fox species in North America after the Kit Fox, and can be great companions. CACS, 2011 update NRCS Fish and Wildlife Habitat Management Leaflet. It also lives in southern Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in Canada, where it was previously extirpated. Swift Foxes prefer large tracts of native prairie, usually grazed, but will select dens sites near agricultural fields and human development. Swift Foxes are not very suspicious of humans, so that they are easily trapped or poisoned. Swift Fox Recent Publications "Wild Thing: The Other Foxes" - Though less prevalent than reds and grays, swift and kit foxes are found in some areas of Texas. The Kit Fox is a fox species that lives in southwest North America. Swift Fox habitat use in Wyoming differs from other areas of the range. A total of 8,000,000 suitable acres were identified in Montana (Giddings and Knowles 1995). During breeding sea-son or when food resources are scarce, swift foxes travel outside this core area to … Although specific projects have focused on habitat characteristics throughout portions of the state, the apparently expanding distribution and larger shrub component present in Swift Fox habitat in Wyoming likely warrant further investigation. Swift foxes also faced intensive trapping and inadvertent poisoning as a result of efforts to kill prairie dogs, ground squirrels, wolves and coyotes. Shortgrass prairie in extreme western and southwestern North Dakota offers the most suitable habitat for Swift Fox populations in North Dakota. The species received its common name from early Western settlers because of its speed and agility. The IUCN lists many species as Least Concern, but with declining populations. Swift fox facts The swift fox is a very small fox weighing only 4 to 6 pounds. They are about 12 inches (30 cm) in height, and 31 inches (79 cm) long, measuring from the head to the tip of the tail, or about the size of a house cat. Key Areas and Conditions for Swift Fox in North Dakota. In areas where trappers are active or where poison is used to control predators, the foxes have been greatly reduced in number or entirely eliminated. Swift foxes depend on grassland habitat and the diverse species of plants and animals found in this ecosystem. Considered the smallest of North America’s wild canids, the swift fox is not much larger than the average house cat. In Canada, some of the plant species needed to create this habitat include buffalo grass, bluestem and wire grass. Swift fox pups disperse from their parents when they are 4 to 6 months old. In some areas, humans also collect Swift nests to use in bird’s nest soup. Suitable swift fox habitat was generally defined as extensive in size (preferably over 100,000 acres), with relatively level topography, and with greater than 50% of the area undisturbed by agriculture. Habitat destruction, and changes to construction, reduces usable roosting and foraging areas. Habitat Swift Foxes typically live in … Human interaction varies by species, based on where they live and roost. Conservation Assessment and Strategy for Swift Fox in the US.