Existence of rare red fox confirmed

The genetic signature of canine slobber on a bait bag of chicken scraps and a fuzzy photograph from a motion-sensitive camera north of Yosemite National Park have confirmed the existence of a red fox, thought to have been all but wiped out, the U.S. Forest Service announced last week. "The last known sighting of a Sierra Nevada red fox in the Sonora Pass area was some time in the 1920s," said Mike Crawley, Bridgeport District ranger. "Needless to say, we are quite surprised and excited by this find." Federal wildlife technicians Emily Crowe and Julien Pellegrini were checking hundreds of photos when they came across an overexposed image taken at 2:17 a.m. Aug. 11 of what appeared to be the rare red fox — with its characteristic white-tipped tail — trying to get at the bait bag dangling from a tree. The Sierra Nevada red fox (Vulpes vulpes necator) lives at high elevations, eating small mammals and birds. It has a reddish head, back and sides; black backs of the ears; black "socks" on its feet; and a white-tipped tail. But the only known population of the fox is roughly 20 animals clinging to survival in the Lassen Peak region, about 150 miles to the north...more

Also see Spotting of red fox could ignite endangered species battle