Editing Kit fox (section)

==Mating and reproduction==
[[File:Vulpes macrotis mutica with pups.jpg|thumb|[[San Joaquin kit fox]] family]]
{{see also|Fox#Sexual characteristics}}
The kit fox is a [[socially monogamous]] species,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Ralls |first1=Katherine |last2=Cypher |first2=Brian |last3=Spiegel |first3=Linda K. |title=Social Monogamy in Kit Foxes: Formation, Association, Duration, and Dissolution of Mated Pairs |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=December 2007 |volume=88 |issue=6 |pages=1439–1446 |doi=10.1644/06-MAMM-A-348R.1 |language=en |issn=0022-2372 |doi-access=free }}</ref>  and the mated pair remains together throughout the year.<ref name="Sheldon1992"/> However, [[Animal sexual behaviour#Polygamy|polygamous]] mating relationships have been observed.<ref name="Egoscue1962">{{cite journal |last1=Egoscue |first1=Harold J. |title=Ecology and Life History of the Kit Fox in Tooele County, Utah |journal=Ecology |date=July 1962 |volume=43 |issue=3 |pages=481–497 |doi=10.2307/1933376 |jstor=1933376 |bibcode=1962Ecol...43..481E |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1933376|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Female foxes begin searching for natal dens in September and October and usually usable dens are visited and cleaned of debris before the final selection is made. No nest as such is built, but new entrances and tunnels can be added to the den. As with most canids, copulation ends with a "tie" during which the penis is locked in the female's vagina.<ref name="McGrew1979"/><ref name="Egoscue1956">{{cite journal |last1=Egoscue |first1=Harold J. |title=Preliminary Studies of the Kit Fox in Utah |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |date=August 1956 |volume=37 |issue=3 |pages=351–357 |doi=10.2307/1376734|jstor=1376734 }}</ref> 

Females are [[monoestrous]]. Male and female kit foxes usually establish mating pairs during October and November, and they mate from December to January-February. Gestation lasts probably around 49–56 days, and the litters are born in February or March; litter size is usually four or five, and the sex ratio is roughly even. They do not emerge from the den until they are at least four weeks old, and are weaned after about eight weeks and become independent at five to six months old. They become [[sexually mature]] at 10 months. Both parents take part in raising and protecting their young. Pups emerge from the den at about one month of age and spend several hours each day playing outside the entrance. The male seems to do most of the hunting during this period, and later, both parents provide food until the pups start to forage with them at three to four months of age.<ref name="McGrew1979"/><ref name="Sheldon1992"/>

Survival and mortality rates of kit foxes can vary significantly year to year. In captivity, they have lived 10 to 12 years;<ref name="USDA">{{Cite report|last1=Meaney|first1=Carron A.|last2=Reed-Eckert|first2=Melissa|last3=Beauvais|first3=Gary P.|title=Kit Fox (''Vulpes macrotis''): A Technical Conservation Assessment|date=2006|url=https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/awweb/awarchive?item=66201|publisher=USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region|location=United States|pages=44|language=en|access-date=2020-11-09|archive-date=2020-04-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200425040422/https://digitallibrary.utah.gov/awweb/awarchive?item=66201|url-status=dead}}</ref> while the average lifespan of a wild kit fox is 5.5 years.<ref name="ADW"/> One Californian study of 144 kit fox pups showed a 74% mortality rate in pups within the first year.<ref name="USDA"/>