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San Joaquin Kit Fox

The San Joaquin Kit Fox (Vulpes macrotis mutica) was formerly common in the San Joaquin Valley of California. Its 1990 population was estimated to be 7,000, and it is now considered endangered. On September 26, 2007, Wildlands, Inc. announced the designation of the 684-acre Deadman Creek Conservation Bank, which is intended specifically to protect habitat of the San Joaquin Kit Fox.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kit_Fox

The long-tailed San Joaquin kit fox, one of eight subspecies of kit foxes, has an average body length of 51 centimeters (20 in) and stands about 30 centimeters (12 in) high at the shoulder. Average weight of an adult male is only about 2.25 kilograms (5 lbs.). The ears are conspicuously large and densely covered on the inside with stiff, white hairs. The summer coat is light buff to buffy gray on the back and white on the belly; winter coat is grizzled gray on the back, rust to buff on the sides, and white beneath. The tail is distinguished by a prominent black tip.

Habitat

The San Joaquin kit fox forages in California prairie and Sonoran grasslands in the vicinity of freshwater marshes and alkali sinks, where there is a dense ground cover of tall grasses and San Joaquin saltbush. Seasonal flooding in such habitats is normal. Soils are deep, heavy loams that support mixtures of native perennial and introduced grasses. Pupping dens are built in more loosely textured soils at elevations between 110 and 900 meters (350 and 2,950 ft).

Source: http://www.vulpes.org/foxden/information/san-joaquin-kit-fox.htm