The Iowa Fox Monitoring Project is part of a study about the life history and ecology of red fox and gray fox populations in Iowa. We are eager to see where foxes are active in both urban and rural areas of Iowa. Please report your sightings - whether or not you are able to take photos of the foxes you observed. Of the two species, Red Foxes are by far the most commonly sighted in Iowa. Although they are the main focus of this project, we are also anticipating sightings of the less-frequently seen Gray Fox. Your observations will help us understand the distribution of both species as well as help us to identify new areas from which to monitor them in the future.

We are a group of researchers in the Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management, Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa, in the central part of the state. We have been tracking foxes in and around Ames and surrounding counties through direct citizen science observations and trail camera recordings near den locations. Through this project, we will collect observations not only in our area, but also throughout Iowa. less ↑