# OK Doper, Identify This Animal! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 6, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004 "2004-06-06T21:58:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GopherGod72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GopherGod72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GopherGod72)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/21 "2004-06-07T01:22:10Z")
How DARE you disagree with me!!! Why I NEVER! ---
**Author:** ![Scopata\_Fuori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Scopata\_Fuori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scopata_Fuori)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/22 "2004-06-07T01:31:41Z")
"The coyote has the appearance of a medium-sized dog or a small German Shepherd. Coyotes are about one and a half to two feet tall and between forty-one and fifty-three inches long. Weight ranges from twenty to fifty pounds. They have a bushy tail that is tipped with black. Most are grey, but some show rust or brown coloration. This nocturnal animal is most active at night, but if not threatened by man they will hunt during the day. The coyote is omnivorous. They will eat fruits, grasses, and vegetables along with small mammals. The coyote is capable of producing fertile offspring with many other animals from the dog family. It occasionally breeds with the domestic dog, wild dogs, and wolves. This mixed offspring has created great confusion about whether a real coyote has been seen. The only way to tell the difference is by examination of the skull. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/23 "2004-06-07T01:35:40Z")
Irrespective of _how_ it lost it’s hair, it is _obviously_ a fox [See this red fox](http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/redfox.jpg) [and the mystery animal](http://www.news-record.com/graphics/june/creature060304.jpg) [Here’s a face on with a fully furred fox](http://www.vindelalven.se/turist/bilder/rodrav_stor.jpg) Face structure, leg proportions and tail length are virtually identical. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/24 "2004-06-07T01:46:16Z")
The head definitely looks like a [grey fox](http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/ev19gdes.htm) (note in particular the shape of the ears and the light coloring along the jaw). There’s also a ruff of fur around the neck of the animal in the news article, indicating that it’s not completely “hairless”. [Here’s another picture](http://www.xcalak.info/images/greyfox_l.JPG) of a grey fox with relatively short hair. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/25 "2004-06-07T01:57:35Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Irrespective of _how_ it lost it’s hair, it is _obviously_ a fox > > [See this red fox](http://www.bcadventure.com/adventure/wilderness/animals/redfox.jpg) > [and the mystery animal](http://www.news-record.com/graphics/june/creature060304.jpg) I’m not seeing it bud. Looking at those pictures made me think _less_ of it being a fox. I don’t think it’s a mysterious gabbersnatcher from Omicron Persei 8, but I also don’t think it’s your run of the mill fox. I have no idea what it is but I don’t think it’s right to say it’s “_obviously_” anything at this point. If it was _obviously_ a fox the guy wouldn’t have set up cameras and taken pictures and the news sources wouldn’t have printed them. I’m not saying it’s definitely not a fox, but it sure as shit isn’t _obviously_ a fox. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/26 "2004-06-07T01:58:49Z")
[Here’s a close up of the face](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cpeek001/fox1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/27 "2004-06-07T01:59:34Z")
Grey fox (_Urocyon cinereoargenteus_). No doubt about it. In a summer coat. The shorthair phenotype doesn’t surprise me at all. It may be genetic, it may just be at the extreme of phenotypic plasticity. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/28 "2004-06-07T02:06:23Z")
Now that I think about it, it probably has some _Vulpes_ (Red Fox) blood in it, but it is quite definitely a fox, mostly Grey IMNSHO. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/29 "2004-06-07T02:07:18Z")
[What about this mysterious creature](http://www.bfro.net/AVEVID/PHOTOS/FOOTAGE_STILLS/f352.jpg)? ---
**Author:** ![GopherGod72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f0a364/32.png) [@GopherGod72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GopherGod72)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/30 "2004-06-07T02:16:35Z")
Oh! …and foxes are VERY omnivorous. ---
**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/31 "2004-06-07T02:36:56Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [What about this mysterious creature](http://www.bfro.net/AVEVID/PHOTOS/FOOTAGE_STILLS/f352.jpg)? Looks kind of like Liza Minelli. ---
**Author:** ![Scopata\_Fuori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@Scopata\_Fuori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scopata_Fuori)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/32 "2004-06-07T02:42:10Z")
The fact that it is adapting to humans is a sign that it may be a coyote, with a short hair mutation. Its nocturnal habit, and willingness to eat corn, support this, since the coyote is omniverous, as opposed to a carnivorous fox. If it weren’t for the size stated, I’d have guessed a coydog…a coyote crossed with a particularly foxy looking dog…such as a Pomeranian or corgi or such. Unlike many hybrids, the coydog is fertile. A coyote is significantly larger than a fox; and a coydog tends to be larger than either of its parents. This one was described as foxlike in size. My guess is it is fox, and since it appears to be a lactating female, she may have simply lost her fur due to one of numerous possible reasons, such as nutritional issues. If it is a fox, eating corn would be an act of desperation or instinct to obtain some missing nutrient. Possible pica? Lacatating/gestating humans crave unusual foods or pseudofoods. Perhaps this fox is, as well? She may be losing some of her shyness around humans out of desperation to feed her babies. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/33 "2004-06-07T02:49:40Z")
> [@Scopata Fuori](#): > > The fact that it is adapting to humans is a sign that it may be a coyote, with a short hair mutation. Its nocturnal habit, and willingness to eat corn, support this, since the coyote is omniverous, as opposed to a carnivorous fox. > > If it weren’t for the size stated, I’d have guessed a coydog…a coyote crossed with a particularly foxy looking dog…such as a Pomeranian or corgi or such. Unlike many hybrids, the coydog is fertile. > > A coyote is significantly larger than a fox; and a coydog tends to be larger than either of its parents. This one was described as foxlike in size. My guess is it is fox, and since it appears to be a lactating female, she may have simply lost her fur due to one of numerous possible reasons, such as nutritional issues. If it is a fox, eating corn would be an act of desperation or instinct to obtain some missing nutrient. Possible pica? Lacatating/gestating humans crave unusual foods or pseudofoods. Perhaps this fox is, as well? > > She may be losing some of her shyness around humans out of desperation to feed her babies. as GopherGod72 indicated foxes are quite omnivorous and do not have to be under nutritional stress to eat vegetable and plant matter [See Red Fox - Vulpes vulpes Feeding Habits Diet](http://mynarskiforest.purrsia.com/ev5rdiet.htm) > [@](#): > > The question of “What does a red fox eat?” can be almost as difficult to answer as “What does a human eat?”. Foxes are true omnivores capable of devouring a large variety of plant and animal matter. On the vegetarian side of the equation, possible foods include various grasses, grains, fungi, berries and fruit. It’s much better known carnivorous diet might consist of insects (especially grasshoppers where abundant), rodents such as mice and voles, rabbits, birds, eggs, amphibians and small reptiles, fish, mollusks, earthworms, carrion and more. Foxes are also quite famous for scavenging human garbage, which can provide a major portion of their diet in urban environments. > > An opportunistic eater, the red fox’s diet tends to vary directly in proportion to what’s available (a more carnivorous diet is prevalent in winter when edible plants are scarce). Nevertheless, despite an enormous variety of food that may sometimes be obtainable, individual animals tend to have preferences to a more narrow range of items. Whether this is a matter of taste, or a skill at catching certain prey over others, a fox will probably have its own preferences between mice and voles, or strawberries over another fruit. Like humans, a fox might make special efforts to obtain these favourites. > > Regardless of what it eats, a fox needs to take in about half a kilogram of meat, or it’s equivalent in plants each day. It will spend a third of its time searching for food to fulfill this requirement. ---
**Author:** ![Darwins\_Finch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darwins_finch/32/20304_2.png) [@Darwins\_Finch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darwins_Finch)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/34 "2004-06-07T03:09:26Z")
> [@Scopata Fuori](#): > > Its nocturnal habit, and willingness to eat corn, support this, since the coyote is omniverous, as opposed to a carnivorous fox. All of which also support it being a grey fox. [Animal Diversity Web entry](http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Urocyon_cinereoargenteus.html): > [@](#): > > Grey foxes are nocturnal or crepuscular and den during the day in hollow trees, stumps or old woodchuck burrows. > […] > The grey fox is a solitary hunter and eats a wide variety of food. The most important food source for the grey fox is probably the eastern cottontail (Sylvilagus floridanus), but voles, field mice, shrews, and birds are readily captured and eaten. The grey fox suppliments its diet with whatever fruits are readily available and generally eats more vegetable matter than the red fox (Vulpes vulpes). Also from that entry: > [@](#): > > They are distinguished from most other canids by their grizzled upperparts, buff neck and black-tipped tail. Aside from the fact that the head is identical to that of a grey fox, note the the black tip of the tail of the animal in the news link. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/35 "2004-06-07T03:13:18Z")
I am going to bet on a feral dog. There are some dogs that have faces just like foxes. Combine that with a cross-breed, and you could get this. ---
**Author:** ![porcupine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac91a4/32.png) [@porcupine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/porcupine)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/36 "2004-06-07T03:20:27Z")
> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#): > > It _also says_ this thing eats dried corn. Do foxes eat corn? Maybe it’s a corndog. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/37 "2004-06-07T03:21:03Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Here’s a close up of the face](http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cpeek001/fox1.jpg) Well, if it had been Roswell, NM, instead of somewhere in NC, I might be tempted to say that [this family](http://www.nmtourism.com/english/alienfam.gif) forgot to pick up the family dog when their vacation was over. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/38 "2004-06-07T03:24:53Z")
> [@porcupine](#): > > Maybe it’s a corndog. What do porcupines eat? ---
**Author:** ![Danalan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@Danalan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danalan)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/39 "2004-06-07T03:33:52Z")
I have to agree with **Ilsa\_Lund** , but only because of the phrase _“phenotypic plasticity”_. It adds an incontrovertible aura of scientific accuracy. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2004, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004/40 "2004-06-07T03:45:06Z")
I think the oddest thing about this particular animal is that it seems to have a disproportionately small head and large ears for a Gray Fox. However, I would go with that based on the fact that the color pattern is identical to that of a Gray Fox. As **Darwin’s Finch** has pointed out, this species has a grizzled back and black-tipped tail. It also has reddish on the legs, lower sides, and top of the head, and white throat. It appears to me to have exceptionally short fur, perhaps a mutation, rather than having lost its fur through mange. Foxes will eat corn, as has already been pointed out, so that’s not at all surprising. There is a remote possibility it could be a [Kit Fox](http://www.ttsfo.com/Gunnison/images/Kit-fox.jpg), which has a similar color pattern to Gray Fox but proportionatley larger ears. However, it would be way out of range, and also would have had to have some kind of short-haired condition. It certainly isn’t a coyote - structurally it’s very different. I also don’t think it’s a feral dog. > [@Danalan](#): > > I have to agree with Ilsa\_Lund, but only because of the phrase “phenotypic plasticity”. It adds an incontrovertible aura of scientific accuracy. In this case, however, **Ilsa** is just bullshitting. This particular animal is certainly _not_ within the normal range of “phenotypic plasticity” of a Gray Fox, nor is it merely in a summer coat. It either has some kind of rare mutation or rare recessive phenotype, or is very sick. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ok-doper-identify-this-animal/249004.md?page=3)