Iowa DNR is searching for the gray fox — an elusive and increasingly rare species

Nov. 15 started like any normal day. Vince Evelsizer was working in his Iowa Department of Natural Resources office in Clear Lake. And then, in the early afternoon, he got a call that lifted him from his seat.

“A guy called and said he caught us one,” Evelsizer said. His team was packed and ready to go at a moment’s notice — just in case of a moment like this. “And then we got on the road.”

A four-hour car ride brought them down to Lee County at the southeastern tip of Iowa, where they could visually confirm the find: There, safely curled up in an animal trap, was a gray fox.

The gray fox has been listed as a species of greatest conservation need in Iowa since 2015. Their populations have declined across the state and the Midwest at large. But researchers aren’t quite sure why, said Iowa DNR furbearer and wetland biologist Evelsizer.

The November catch marked the first for an ongoing Iowa DNR pilot project aiming to uncover more information about the gray fox — an elusive, rare yet important part of state ecosystems.

“What's also interesting is that there is no population decline in the north half of Minnesota and the southern U.S. They're doing great,” he said. “What is the deal? What is up with that? That's what we'd like to understand better.”

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Mortality is a mystery

Gray fox populations stretch across most of the U.S. Their range in Iowa bridges statewide, but their core areas are in Eastern and Southern Iowa. They prefer forested habitats, like cedar thickets, deciduous forests and the Driftless region, along with old farms and overgrown pastures.

The mammals eat mostly birds and rodents, but may also consume insects, fruits and grasses seasonally. Their litters, emerging in April, can include up to five pups. Adults can climb trees to hunt or escape danger — a unique canine feature, Evelsizer said.

Unlike its cousin, the red fox, gray foxes are smaller as adults. Red foxes have black and taller legs; gray foxes have a uniform gray stretching down their shorter legs. Gray foxes also have a prominent stripe trailing down their backs to the tips of their tails. Red foxes, on the other hand, have white splotches at the ends of their tails, on their chins and on their bellies.

Most important to researchers, gray fox populations in Iowa are much smaller than red fox populations. From 2011 to 2021, there were only a handful of gray fox observations reported each year for every 1,000 hours of bow hunting across Iowa regions, according to an Iowa DNR survey.

Researchers aren’t quite sure why their populations have declined over the past 25 years. Diseases — like mange and distemper — could play a role, along with animal-vehicle collisions on roads. Some may become prey to predators like coyotes, racoons and bobcats. Others may get displaced by habitat loss from large-scale farming practices or urban development.

There have also been trapping and hunting seasons for the species since the 1930s. But that likely is not the foxes’ biggest threat, Evelsizer said: Almost zero percent of fur harvesters reported targeting the gray fox from 2018 to 2021, according to an Iowa DNR survey.

In the 2021-22 hunting season, only one gray fox was reported to be harvested — reflecting both declining interest in hunting or trapping the species and likely declines in its state populations.

Pilot project

On Nov. 15, the Iowa DNR team carefully affixed a muzzle and blindfold onto the gray fox. Researchers weighed the adult male — who came in at 10.3 pounds — and took a blood sample.

They then fitted the fox with a tracking collar that collects the creature’s GPS location every seven hours. It also emits real-time signals that can be collected when the animal is close to tracking equipment.

That data will be complemented with any snapshots of the foxes collected from trail cameras, which can reveal behaviors, fleeting locations and clues about health.

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Just before midnight, the team of researchers released the gray fox back into the wild.

The Iowa DNR’s pilot project marks the first-ever study of gray foxes in Iowa, Evelsizer said. Other states in the Midwest are leading their own studies, too, including Indiana, Ohio and Illinois. The researchers are sharing their equipment with each other to keep their projects and data consistent.

They also all have the same objectives for their research — primarily, what’s causing the declines in gray fox populations? What are they dying from? The teams also want to learn more about the species’ home range and what habitats they rely on.

“There just hasn't been much research done on gray foxes in the Midwest,” Evelsizer said. “There is a knowledge gap.”

Call for help

Currently, the Iowa DNR only has five tracking collars for its pilot. If the project proves successful — if enough gray foxes can be trapped and collared — a bigger study may be in the department’s future, Evelsizer said. Until then, the pilot is running off little to no funding.

Department staff tried to do their own trapping after the pilot began in fall 2022. But, since gray foxes are so rare, tracking efforts were inefficient and ultimately unsuccessful. The Iowa DNR hoped to continue its research with a public plea: It’s now asking trappers to help catch and report the mysterious species.

“It's more efficient to ask trappers to catch (gray foxes) because there's so few of them,” Evelsizer said. “Trappers are helping with the conservation of the species.”

If Iowa trappers happen to catch a gray fox alive, they can contact Evelsizer at 641-231-1522 or Iowa DNR wildlife technician Dave Hoffman at 641-425-0737 to contribute to the pilot project. If neither is available, another option is to contact a local wildlife biologist or conservation officer.

The Iowa DNR is offering a $400 reward as an incentive for foxes that are healthy and can be tracked in the study.

Landowners also can help by creating more habitat for the gray fox. They can leave brush piles, which the animals use for dens. Woodland owners can make sure their forests are properly maintained, especially where younger patches of forests are growing in.

Brittney J. Miller is the Energy & Environment Reporter for The Gazette and a corps member with Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues.

Comments: (319) 398-8370; brittney.miller@thegazette.com