Swift fox survey being conducted

Press release

GLASGOW - If you see some lights at night north of U.S. Highway 2 this winter, it may not just be the northern lights.

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks crews are live trapping swift fox from November through February, checking traps and handling fox during the long, dark hours of winter. Two two-member crews will be working, north of Highway 2, between Opheim and Havre.

Since 2000, and about every five years since then, FWP has partnered with Canada to conduct a survey to try to determine swift fox population and distribution.

The crews have been training the last few weeks to learn how to successfully trap, handle, and take pertinent data from trapped swift fox.

"We want to let folks know, especially landowners, that we will have crews out at night this winter, driving around and setting or checking live traps," said Region 6 biologist Nikie Hussey, coordinator of the project. "Crews will trap in a location for three nights and then move onto the next site."

Trapping will take place on public land and some private land. If you happen to come across the clearly marked swift fox live traps, please do not disturb them. They will be closed during the daylight hours.

History of swift fox in Montana

Swift fox are year-round residents, inhabiting shortgrass prairies. Largely nocturnal, swift foxes can range over several square miles a night. They breed from late December to early March, with a single litter of three to six pups born late March to early May. Young are raised in an underground den, emerging in early June and dispersing in late summer or early fall.

Swift fox were once abundant on the Great Plains, but in the early 1900s numbers began to decline in response to government poisoning campaigns aimed at wolves, prairie dogs and ground squirrels. Swift foxes lost a prey source in prairie dogs and ground squirrels, and when wolves declined, they couldn't outcompete coyotes and red foxes for food.

In 1969, Montana declared swift fox basically extinct locally. However, due in part to transplant programs in Canada, sightings of swift foxes have increased in eastern and central Montana since the 1980's.

Programs also have been going on to reintroduce swift foxes to northern Montana, on both the Fort Belknap and Fort Peck Indian reservations, which is helping with populations in the area, but FWP is not directly involved in those programs other than sharing information, FWP Communication and Education Program Manager Marc Kloker said. The population being examined by FWP north of Highway 2 is likely due to the Canada releases, although the efforts on the reservation also probably are helping that population.

Currently, a sustainable population of swift fox exists that allows for a limited trapping season, with a current harvest quota of 10 fox, in a portion of district 6 in northern Montana for those with a valid trapper's license. It is not legal to shoot a swift fox.

The population survey is the primary method for FWP to estimate swift fox population size and trend in this northern-most extent of their range.

"It will be interesting to see what our populations are looking like at this point," added Hussey. "These little foxes are an important component of the shortgrass prairie ecosystem of northern Montana."

You can help by reporting swift fox sightings

In addition to conducting populations surveys, FWP encourages people to report any live or road-killed sightings of swift fox to their local FWP biologist.

Locations of swift fox can give biologists valuable information, such as better understanding of the distribution of fox and location of dens. In addition, studies are being conducted with radio collared fox, and any help in locating foxes and their dens is crucial to the study.

To report sightings, people need to be able to tell the difference between swift fox, red fox, and coyotes. Swift foxes are about the size of a house cat, smaller than red foxes and only about a fifth the size of coyotes.

Red foxes are red, with some variations, and have white-tipped tails.

Swift foxes have grayish-red fur and a black-tipped tail.

Coyotes can have similar coloring and tail markings, but again are much larger. Juvenile coyotes could resemble swift fox at certain times of the year.

If you happen to spot a swift fox, please contact your local biologist and if possible, get a GPS point or accurate map location of the sighting. In Region 6, direct all sightings to Nikie Hussey at 406-808-7111, or email [email protected] .