San Francisco Citizen

I think they are, out there in Golden Gate Park and the Presidio and other less urban parts of town. I thought I could point you to some photos of sightings this year, but I came up empty. (I found of lot of paintings (like this one at our Legion of Honor Museum) and other works of art and honeys and Halloween costumes and the like.)

However, all these relatively recent shots are new to me

2010 at Strybing Arboretum in Golden Gate Park

Another one in GGP

2010 in the Parkside near the Zoo

2009 in GGP

2009 at Strybing Arboretum in GGP

2009 near (or in) Daly City 

2001 in the Presidio

It was a lot easier to spot foxes back in the Aughts, back in the first decade of the 2000′s. Poison got a few red foxes in Golden Gate Park (and one got hit by a car on Crossover Drive, I think) and the native gray foxes are probably up there in the Presidio still, but I can’t point you to photos to show that. Oh well.

This was the San Francisco Fox Roundup for 2009. Enjoy:

After a period of time of no sightings of foxes in Golden Gate Park, it seems that they might be coming back, especially in the western end. They probably are able to travel back and forth to the Presidio and Land’s End fairly easily.

Here’s a report from Joyce W., who saw a Fantastic Mr. (or Mrs. Fox) back in 2009:

“It was about 4:00 pm and the fox was within 15 feet of JFK BLVD at the far West end.
It was intently watching a gopher hole on a wide open patch of mowed lawn.
Two cars stopped and watched in silence which didn’t seem to bother the fox.
It wasn’t until a jogger came by that the creature dashed into the woods.
I am 90% sure it was a Red Fox and not our local Grey Fox.  Very striking colour combination with the red, black and white.
How did these creatures end up in the park? Amazing.

I regret that my cell phone was tucked away.  I was mesmerized by the vision before my eyes and didn’t want to divert my gaze for a second.
I watched it be absolutely still for at least three minutes.”

So there you have it. Coyotes are a similar size, but they run with their tails down and they’re not red the way cute cute red foxes are. So let’s call this a reliable report of a red fox in the west end of GGP at the tail end of 2009. Elusive, aren’t they? (Not at all like San Francisco’s raccoons and parrots.)

Here are photos of some east end foxes, from back in the day:

Foxes certainly don’t mind living in and around cities. Near Lincoln Boulevard in the Inner Sunset. Until we get some new photos, these old ones will have to do. Click to expand:

The last fox I photographed in Golden Gate Park. A wispy blur:

From about 175 feet away in Strybing Arboretum. She’ll see you before you see her:

A kit (or pup or cub) with its mom:

Keep a look out, they’re out there somewhere.

Send in your reports or post them to Twitter, as Thrusty did.