The gray fox is among the smaller canids in Oregon.

The basic color of the gray fox is grizzled gray, but the stiff middorsal hairs have long black tips that extend onto the tail as a black mane. Guard hairs are banded white, gray, and black. The throat, venter, and inside of the legs are white; a cinnamon-rufous border to the white throat extends on the flanks and underside of the tail A blackish patch on the side of the face extends onto the lower jaw and a grayish black "exclamation point" extends upward from the interior margin of each eye. The ears are cinnamon on the exterior and lines with long whitish hairs extending from the interior margins. The feet are grayish white.

Although the gray fox may be seen abroad during daylight hours, most activity is nocturnal or crepuscular. Usually, the gray fox is secretive. Ground dens used by gray foxes frequently are the modified dens of other species; hollow logs, abandoned buildings, refuse piles, and rocky outcrops also may be used as den sites. Dens are commonly concealed by thick, brushy vegetation. The gray fox is unique among other North American canids in that it climbs trees to escape pursuit, to forage, and to rest.

In Oregon, the gray fox is found only west of the Cascade Range. However several gray foxes reportedly were taken in Hood River, Deschutes, and Klamath counties immediately east of the Cascade Range and a few were reported from scattered counties farther east in the state.

Photo from ODFW