Hokkaido red fox - Wildlife of Japan

We met a family of Red Fox in Rausu during the spring months, when the temperatures had not yet risen to double digits yet.

The three red fox kits lived under the floor of a building called ‘Banya’, which is a hut used by the sea fishermen.

I met these kids when they were less than two weeks old, and they still couldn’t see very well. The parents were frequently grooming them, to remove the dirt from their fur.

After observing them for a few days, I could get to know their daily schedule, and the relationships between the three siblings.

The third kit, which is a little smaller, was often seen dozing off or behaving a little differently then the other two. Every morning, when the time came for the fishermen to return to the port, the parent fox would also go to the port to get the fish from the fishermen.

Every year, from May to June in Rausu, it is not uncommon to find baby foxes coming out suddenly from under the floor of the huts, jump out onto the road, or sadly even get hit by a car in the road. During this season in Eastern Hokkaido, animals such as deer and fox are raising their families, so there is a need to be extra careful when driving.

Photo & Text: Kaito IMAHORI
Observation: Rausu, Shireoko Peninsula, Hokkaido

*Contact us, Saiyu Travel for more information about wildlife and bird watching in Hokkaido. We can make various arrangements for your trip. We have a guesthouse, Shiretoko Serai, in Rausu, Shiretoko Peninsula.

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The Ezo red foxes live all over Hokkaido island. Officially a subspecies of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes schrencki, they inhabit the islands of Hokkaido, Sakhalin and the Southern Kuril Islands.

For those of us who live in Hokkaido, they are a familiar face that we often see in the city. However, people should be careful not to get close to them because they are hosts to a parasite called Echinococcus. Echinococcus (a type of tapeworm) is said to have spread to Hokkaido through fur fox farming in the Aleutian Islands and Kuril Islands. Sadly, the Ezo red fox has become the definitive host of the parasite Echinococcus. There are programs for delivering anthelmintic drugs to the fox population to reduce the infection rate.

A pair of Ezo red foxes during the breeding season (Notsuke Peninsula).

During the summer, Ezo red foxes don’t look very beautiful because their fur sheds unevenly. Unlike the Japanese red foxes of mainland Japan (a subspecies of the red fox, Vulpes vulpes japonica), the Ezo red fox, Vulpes vulpes schrencki, which inhabits Hokkaido, north of the Blakiston’s line, has fluffy winter fur and gives it that beautiful look.

Also, the whiteness of the snow makes their brown fur stand out. Especially from February to March, during their breeding season, they are often seen in pairs. If you are lucky, you may see them chasing each other playfully, or mating in the forest.