Food Habits of the Swift Fox in Northern Texas

Swift foxes, Vulpes velox velox, are present in many parts of their range where they were once considered to be extinct. Little has been learned about the natural history of swift foxes, probably owing to the scarcity of the species until recent years. Twelve stomachs and 250 scats were obtained at six localities in Hansford County, Texas, and were studied to determine the feeding habits of swift foxes. Most of the land in Hansford County is farmed or overgrazed. Swift foxes and their dens have been found in both cultivated and uncultivated fields (Cutter, 1958). Growers of livestock and poultry are not now (1956) troubled by predators, but perhaps formerly were since government trappers have set “coyote getters” in the past—mechanisms that explode a small bomb in the mouths of investigating coyotes. Two of the 12 stomachs were empty; the 250 scats were gathered near the entrances...