text x_quick_Title2=Class: Mammalia~Order: Carnivora~Family: Canidae~(Vulpes macrotis mutica)
text x_quick=Where In the World~` There are certainly as few as 7,000 San Joaquin kit foxes left - some experts say the numbers could be as low as 1,000 to 3,000.~` In the past, the animal was found throughout California's San Joaquin Valley, from San Joaquin and Modesto counties at the northern end to Kern County in the south (near Bakersfield).~` Today, the San Joaquin kit fox is found in a much smaller range of the San Joaquin Valley - in Kern and San Luis Obispo counties and on the western side of the valley in Merced county.~ ~Take a Look!~` The San Joaquin kit fox is the smallest fox in North America.~` The fox is about 20 inches long and measures about 12 inches high at the shoulder.~` San Joaquin kit foxes weigh little more than five pounds.~` This kit fox has a long, bushy tail tipped in black and large, fuzzy ears.~ ~All in the Family~` The closest relatives are the other kit foxes, including the endangered Northern swift fox. Other members of the fox family include red foxes, gray foxes, and arctic foxes.~ ~Just the Facts~` San Joaquin kit foxes are nocturnal - they do most of their hunting and travelling at night.~` If they don't mate for life, the San Joaquin kit foxes stay with their mates for quite a long time. Dad helps Mum feed and care for the fox kits until they're old enough to leave their parents.~` San Joaquin kit foxes eat rabbits, mice, and other small animals.~` The female has one litter each year in the late spring, usually with three to five kits in it. The kits stay with their parents through the summer and are able to be on their own by autumn.~` A San Joaquin kit fox can live to be seven years old, but in the wild, they're more likely to live just two or three years.
;Habitat
text x_hab= In the middle part of California, the San Joaquin river flows out of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It runs pretty much northwest until it empties into the Sacramento river about 350 miles away. Over thousands of years, the river bed ate down into the land until it created a broad, fertile valley called (what else?) the San Joaquin valley. Before any of the land was cultivated for farms, the San Joaquin valley contained plenty of prairie and grassland areas where all sorts of rabbits, mice, and other small animals lived. The San Joaquin kit fox had a good home, with plenty of food to hunt and soft soils (on the western side of the valley) to dig dens in.~\
Summer days can be quite hot in the valley, and the San Joaquin kit fox has a thick coat of fur. So the fox became nocturnal. In the daytime, the fox sleeps curled up in a cool den, protected from the heat. At dusk, as the temperatures are dropping, the San Joaquin kit fox wakes up and pokes its nose out to see what's going on. By sunset, the fox has begun the night's travels, foraging for things to eat. The San Joaquin kit fox often has a mate to travel with - otherwise, they stay away from other kit foxes. Each pair needs their own territory of about 600 acres. (That's just a bit more than a full square mile.) ~\
Kit foxes have very good hearing, but that's not the only reason their ears are so large. Like many dog species that live in hot climates, the large ears are like radiators. The veins in the ears are very close to the surface, so when blood goes from the overheated body to the ears, the heat can pass out easily. Animals that live in colder climates tend to have smaller ears because they want to keep all that body heat in. (An elephant, from hot Africa, has huge ears. A polar bear, living at the Arctic circle, has tiny ears.) The San Joaquin kit fox's ears are well-furred inside - that keeps out the sand and dirt that gets blown across the valley floor during storms.
;Food
text x_eat= The San Joaquin kit fox likes all sorts of small animals to eat. Desert cottontail rabbits and black-tailed hares, for example. These are very fast animals who are experts at dodging trouble. But if there's one creature who can keep up, it's the quick San Joaquin kit fox. The fox also pounces on mice, kangaroo rats, squirrels, and lizards. When it can, it catches birds to eat. ~\
The San Joaquin kit fox is adapted to desert-like conditions and doesn't need water. If there's water around - a stream or river - the fox will take a drink. But if it's in an area without open water, it can get all the moisture it needs from the animals it eats. That's an important plus during droughts or when the fox is in a part of its range without a freshwater source.
;Habits and Characteristics
text x_life= The Spanish people who first settled in California named a long, beautiful valley after San Joaquin, a saint in the Catholic church. The kit fox gets its name because it lives in that valley. To pronounce it correctly, say "san wa-keen." The kit fox isn't much larger than a large cat, with a light, sandy coat that blends in with the dry, sandy soil and grasslands on the valley floor. Unlike its cousin, the red fox, the kit fox isn't very "foxy" - San Joaquin kit foxes get caught in simple traps, and will lap up the poisoned bait intended for the much craftier coyote. But the San Joaquin kit fox is fast! For short distances (say, less than 300 feet), there's not much that can keep up with - or keep away from - this fleet little fox. If it's chasing a mouse or bunny, there's a good chance the fox will catch its dinner, if the prey doesn't dart down a hole. On the other hand, if the fox is the one being chased, it'll take a lesson from its prey - after the first speedy sprint, the fox will try to confuse whatever's chasing it by zigzagging, until it sees a den hole. Then, quick as a wink, the fox runs down the hole and is gone. ~\
San Joaquin kit foxes have long-term partners - some may mate for life. The male and female generally travel and hunt together. They have many dens throughout their home range - maybe as many as thirty dens in a one square mile territory. For much of the year, the pair roams through their habitat, foraging for food at night and sleeping in their dens during the hot days. In September, the female (called the vixen) leaves the male and travels to her "pupping" den, the den she chooses to have her kits in. She spends her time cleaning the den and enlarging it. Even the smallest dens are about five feet deep and ten feet long, and most have at least four exits. In October or November, her mate rejoins her, and they mate in early January. She's pregnant for almost two months before she has her litter of three to five kits.~\
She and the kits stay safely in the den for the first month while the father goes out to hunt. He brings food back for the vixen. For the first month, the kits nurse from their mother and Dad only has to hunt for two. But after a month, the kits are weaned, and then Dad has his hands full! The kits come out of the den at about that time, so if there's prey nearby, Mum can hunt, too - but for a little while, the burden of feeding his family falls mostly on the male. Both mother and father care for and protect their offspring. As soon as they are able to join their parents on hunting expeditions, the kits are taught all the hunting tricks their parents know. By the time the kits are four or five months old, they have the experience and ability they need to be on their own - and off they go. After their litter leaves, the parents move to a much smaller den for a long rest!~\
The young kit foxes, out on their own, try to find their own home range. One of the most important things a San Joaquin kit fox needs is for his or her territory to include some of the western edge of the valley, where the soil is loose and easy to dig in. Despite the amount of time they spend in dens, the San Joaquin kit foxes aren't very good diggers. In fact, if they can find some other animal's abandoned burrow, they'd rather take that over than dig a new den. So it's more important to establish a territory where there are dens or easy soil than it is to find a place that's rich with bunni
