When is a “fox” not a fox? In the Canidae (the “dog family,” the members of which we call “canids”), there are foxes and there are “foxes.” The true foxes are the dozen species in the genus Vulpes — in North America these include the red fox (Vulpes vulpes), the arctic fox (V. lagopus), the kit fox (V. macrotis) and the swift fox (V. velox). However, there are literally dozens of other species that are commonly called “foxes” — while to be a true fox you must be in the genus Vulpes genus, to be