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Ecology, management and conservation in natural and modified habitats
RESEARCH ARTICLE

The Diet of Foxes, Vulpes Vulpes (L.), In Relation to Abundance of Prey Above the Winter Snowline in New South Wales.

K Green and WS Osborne

Australian Wildlife Research 8(2) 349 - 360
Published: 1981

Abstract

In areas above 1500 m altitude in Kosciusko National Park, New South Wales, between December 1978 and February 1980, the diet of foxes showed strong seasonal trends, with a high occurrence of Orthoptera and Lepidoptera in the snow-free months when these were common, and a general absence of invertebrates when snow covered the area. Small native mammals occurred in the diet in all months and were the winter staple diet; the genera preyed upon were Antechinus, Burramys, Mastacomys and Rattus. Mastacomys fuscus, although less common than Rattus fuscipes, was preyed upon as heavily; the implications of this selective predation are discussed. Foxes showed some selective patterns of predation both in the snow-free months and in winter.

https://doi.org/10.1071/WR9810349

© CSIRO 1981

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