Home Range and Habitat Utilisation of the Red Fox Vulpes vulpes in the Ashio Mountains, Central Japan

概要

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One female and three male red foxes Vulpes vulpes were radiotracked between November 1988 and September 1989. The sizes of their home ranges were calculated using the harmonic mean and three other methods. The size of the females range and her core area changed with her reproductive stages. She maintained her largest range (601.2 ha as a harmonic mean), with two core areas (196.4 ha), during the pre-breeding period. Her range decreased with the advance of her pregnancy, and was smallest (108.7 ha) during the denning period, during which her out-of-den activities were confined almost exclusively to a small circum-den area. Her range increased again during the post-denning period. The summer ranges of the males were larger (582.5 ha on average) than the post-parturition range of the female, and their range sizes remained relatively constant. The female occupied mainly a riverside area, whereas the males tended to range extensively over inter-river areas. Bonferroni Z-tests showed that grasslands and riversides were preferred for foraging and resting by both sexes, whereas forests and steep slopes were avoided during most periods. Craggy slopes were utilised mainly for resting. A scatological analysis suggested that the foxes depended for a large proportion of their food on the Japanese field vole Microtus montebelli.
日本哺乳類学会の論文