Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Earthworms in the diet of the Red fox ( Vulpes vulpes )

Earthworms in the diet of the Red fox ( Vulpes vulpes ) D. M I C H A ES T O D D A R T L Earthworms in the diet of the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) On 12 April 1972 the body of a female Red fox Virlpes d p e s (weight 5.9 kg) was brought to Monks Wood Experimental Station for possible analysis for organochlorine insecticides as part of a survey of residues of these materials in wildlife. This animal had been killed by a vehicle on the previous night when crossing the A604 road in the region between Fenstanton, Hunts and Bar Hill, Canibs. The prominence of the nipples and mammary glands showed that it was lactating (March and April are the peak months for pregnancies in the fox, (Southern, 1964) and the cubs are usually born in late March or early April, (Matthews, 1960)). Examination of the stomach contents showed that these were composed of a large mass of earthworms (large species of Lumbricidae) which filled and distended the stomach and which obviously formed the main meal of this particular animal. Although the species was not identified the earthworms concerned were almost certainly Lumhricus terrestris. Of the common large earthworms of lowland Britain, L. terrestris http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Journal of Zoology Wiley

Earthworms in the diet of the Red fox ( Vulpes vulpes )

Jefferies, D. J.
Journal of Zoology , Volume 173 (2) – Jun 1, 1974
Download PDF
2 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/earthworms-in-the-diet-of-the-red-fox-vulpes-vulpes-kkbVaSymop

References (3)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 1974 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0952-8369
eISSN
1469-7998
DOI
10.1111/j.1469-7998.1974.tb03131.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

D. M I C H A ES T O D D A R T L Earthworms in the diet of the Red fox (Vulpes vulpes) On 12 April 1972 the body of a female Red fox Virlpes d p e s (weight 5.9 kg) was brought to Monks Wood Experimental Station for possible analysis for organochlorine insecticides as part of a survey of residues of these materials in wildlife. This animal had been killed by a vehicle on the previous night when crossing the A604 road in the region between Fenstanton, Hunts and Bar Hill, Canibs. The prominence of the nipples and mammary glands showed that it was lactating (March and April are the peak months for pregnancies in the fox, (Southern, 1964) and the cubs are usually born in late March or early April, (Matthews, 1960)). Examination of the stomach contents showed that these were composed of a large mass of earthworms (large species of Lumbricidae) which filled and distended the stomach and which obviously formed the main meal of this particular animal. Although the species was not identified the earthworms concerned were almost certainly Lumhricus terrestris. Of the common large earthworms of lowland Britain, L. terrestris

Journal

Journal of Zoology – Wiley

Published: Jun 1, 1974

There are no references for this article.