http://www.news-record.com/news/local/rand/creature_060304.htm
This is a link to a unidentified animal that was photographed. There is a heated disscussion on the pet fox mailing list as to what this animal is. people are swearing its a cat/fox cross. That is impossible. I swear its a gray fox with some fluke with its fur. Interested to hear what anyone here thinks it is.
Tiffany
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It looks like a vixen grey fox with mange or some follicly challenged disorder. Last year I and 2 others watched a doe feed within 100 yards of us and she had absolutely not one single visible hair on her body. The 3 other deer feeding with her were in full summer (red)coats, but she was simply a pinkish gray. I just didn't get a picture of her.
It is an african animal Ive seen before as a are import pet trade animal i believe, but cannot be sure. Will follow up. I bet Mike vaden could identify
Its got a frame of a grey fox, and even though the hair length is off, the color patterns are in the right place. It almost looks like a samson's grey fox. The long guard hairs are gone, even though some of the cheek "ruff" seems to still be there. It looks like a nursing female as well! The ONLY thing that troubles me with it is the legs, they appear a tad long for a grey, but then again, no hair might make it appear that way. Bottom line, with the lack of hair, it COULD be referred to as a...Yox's Fox. Sorry.
i believe your correct. I have seen one also - in a book - going to try and locate it now.
I think it is a gray fox. Look at the top of the head. The hair pattern is in the shape of a U on the top of the head. The skull has a U shaped bone (Urocyon) in a gray fox. That is the old standby used to differentiate the skulls of gray and red foxes (Vulpes Vulpes)
That critter is balder than......well you get the picture. And that fox is pretty bald, too.
Summer pelage.
What's wrong with the belly? Abscess? Nursing?
That animal is LOADED with worms. Skinny skinny frame and huge huge belly.
I say it's a grey fox. Probably with a good cause of sarcoptic mange. Which is caused by a mite called sarcoptes scabei mite. It could also be infested with fleas. I do agree that it's full of worms by the way the the stomach is bulged out.
Coyote
The ears say It's a hiena but the body favors something else?
Distended bellies are often a sign of a hefty parasitic load. I still think its a nursing female. I seldom see mange in grey fox, they seem to be much more susceptible to distemper, at least in these parts, where they are plentiful. I thought the overall appearance was healthy, actually. Rick is right on with the U and V with regard to the suture joint and the top of the head. By the way, up north here, the summer coat isnt like that. They just look like regualr greys, just a bit flat, like an unprime fox. Remember, grey fox have pelage and not true fur like a red fox.
The head is very definitely sonsistent with our greys, but the legs are disproportionately long, as is the length of the body, for a grey. Mange? I disagree. The hair is all summer coat and uniformly smooth, especially the tail. I've never seen a mangey critter that looked this nice. The animal looks to have already been nursing by the staining around the teats on her belly, but is there any chance the abdominal enlargement could be pre-partum?
Kinda reminded me of a maned wolf, but with too short of hair. Or, can a grey fox have a gene for short versus longer guard hairs? I say it's some sort of exotic and it's only a matter of bytes and time before one of us ID's it for sure.
I've looked thru a ton of fox sites and come up empty handed. But, looking again at this animal from a taxonomic standpoint and perspective, I say it is a fox, probably more likely Urocyon than Vulpes, and native to a latitude south of us because the long legs and large ears are both adaptations for temperature control and heat loss, as would be the nearly bare tail. Beyond that, I'm eagerly waiting to see if someone can come up with a positive ID.
Check this web site
www.lioncrusher.com/animal.asp?animal=6
Looks like a cross between a caracal and a gray fox though.
Oh it aint nothin but a Retarded Coyote! But it reminds me of "EDD" off of the Lion King!