Gray foxes, a reclusive, smaller species with the unique ability to climb trees, prefer woodland habitats. Researchers are studying the decline in gray fox populations in Indiana in recent years, and one study area includes Bartholomew and Jennings counties.
Indiana Department of Natural Resources
Gray foxes are on the decline in Indiana, but efforts are underway to study the elusive animal, including in Bartholomew and Jennings counties.
Among the smallest members of the canidae family, gray foxes once were common in the eastern United States. However, numbers have fallen for the reclusive, solitary omnivore, raising concern among conservationists.
“Recent work has indicated that gray foxes could be in trouble not only in Indiana, but also in other Midwest states,” according to the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
A talk on the status of the gray fox in Indiana and studies on the species will take place Monday at Ivy Tech Community College in Madison, hosted by the Big Oaks Conservation Society, the nonprofit support group of Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge, the former Jefferson Proving Grounds in Jennings, Ripley, and Jefferson counties. The talk is free and open to the public.
Lane Jeakle, a field ecologist for the Wildlife Ecology Institute who is working on the Indiana Gray Fox Project, will discuss the project, part of which is a study area including Bartholomew and Jennings counties. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources is partnering on the project.
The study is multifaceted. It relies on public reports of gray fox sightings, which can be reported on the project website, wildlifeecology.org/grayfox_indiana.html. As of late December, the project said there had been 242 submissions of possible sightings from 69 of Indiana’s 92 counties.
In Bartholomew, Jennings, Decatur and Shelby counties, as well as several counties farther south in Indiana, the research is much more extensive and on the ground. For these study areas, a hotline has been established for trappers. Those who capture a gray fox that can be fitted with a radio collar and released will receive $125 per fox. A $25 fee also is offered for gray fox carcasses. Both will help researchers assess long-term survival prospects and threats the foxes face.
In the study areas, conservationists hope to fit 40 to 70 gray foxes with GPS collars. This will permit researchers to collect data and assess threats to foxes and their pups, habitat, diseases and parasites, among other things. Lane and other researchers also hope to provide recommendations for management of gray foxes that can be applied in Indiana and other Midwest states.
Gray foxes are unique among foxes in that they climb trees and prefer to make their home in forests and brushy woodlands.
Conservationists believe an ongoing loss of habitat could be a primary concern. Also, larger red foxes and coyotes, both of which have expanded their range into the state and whose number have grown, may be pressuring gray foxes, according to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.
The study is expected to continue into 2024.
