Silver fox

[Critterslayer51]

It looks like this fox could have been a "red fox" that had some genetic issues and came out with gray and black colorings...the legs are still black as in where the red fox is black, but its back and facial portions that are usually red are gray...the only place that send me for a loop is the tail is all black, which should be gray if this hypothesis was completely linear and fool proof...

[muttbuster]

You are correct CS51, it is a color phase of the red fox. But it is very rare.

[Critterslayer51]

yeah I was just talking to a fellow biologist I had gone to college with about this today at work, and he too was leaning towards a color phase, just as gray squirrels can be found to be "black squirrels" but are nothing but a gray squirrel in a color phase, same as a cinnamon or blonde black bear

[waterfowler1183]

This appears to be a true wild silver.  A buddy of mine has one mounted that he shot in Elizabethtown quite a few years ago but that one was def a pen raised fox that either was released or escaped.  Just the size gave it away the pen raised foxes are usually much larger than your average wild fox.  We had a lease on Eastern shore Md for deer and while down there 5 or 6 yrs ago some of the guys seen a silver fox and I actually had a shot at a cross fox but thought the 50 cal muzzleloader woulda scattered him.  A cross fox has a mixture of blacks greys and reds and is a beautiful critter.  Each of which is just a melanistic phase of the same critter ...The red fox

[muttbuster]

A true wild silver fox must be close to one in a million. The taxidermist told me if the owner doesn't pic it up he will sell it to me for his taxidermy cost. I might buy it if it works out that way. It would be great to put on display at some of the events.