Red Fox in Queens, NYC

My trail cams have photographed a red fox.  According to the Urban Park Rangers, Field Guide to the Natural World of New York City By Leslie Day, and multiple other sources, red foxes are known to exist in Queens only in Alley Pond Park, where they are quite rare. I  could not find any source that said red foxes are in the area where my camera caught one, or anywhere else in Queens outside of Alley Pond. The camera that took the photo below is in Udall's Cove Preserve. This is the first publically and photographically documented red fox in Queens outside of Alley Pond Park.

Sources:

• http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130702/new-york-city/where-spot-wildlife-new-york-citys-concrete-jungle
• http://books.google.com/books?id=-BoOGYeaQ64C&dq

Scat Finding

This scat appeared to be at least 1 day old and was located on the middle of a rock in a dried stream bed trail crossing. I used a quarter as a size reference as quarters are approximately 1'' in diameter. The size is roughly 4'' long and 3/4'' wide with one end tapered. It contains white or light gray colored fur.

According to The Complete Tracker - The Tracks, Signs and Habits of North American Wildlife by Len McDougall, Coyote scat is generally between 3'' to 4'' long and 1'' in diameter. In Tracking and the Art of Seeing: How to Read Animal Tracks and Sign by Paul Rezendes, Coyote scat is said to be between 1/4'' to 1 5/16'' in diameter. Coyote scat is often filled with animal fur, is tapered, and is frequently used as a territory marker, thus it is deposited in commonly traversed areas such as on trails. The scat I found matches precisely the size, shape, composition, and location of Coyote scat.

Sources:
http://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/wildlife/problem_wildlife/coyote.html
http://icwdm.org/inspection/BlackBrownDroppings.aspx

Brown Opossum and Albino Mourning Dove

Some interesting non-canid fauna in Queens that I have came across.


An Albino Mourning I photographed in central Queens. A very unique looking bird.

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Opossums generally have gray underfur with gray, black, or brown outer guard hair. Less commonly they have black underfur with black or gray guard hairs. I recently found a carcass of an Opossum (confirmed via dentition) on Long Island Railroad tracks that had brown underfur and brown guard hairs. A known, but very rare combination, especially in the North where the gray outer guard hair predominates.

Sources:

A Brown Mutation in the Opossum (Didelphis virginiana) with Remarks upon the Gray and the Black Phases in This Species by Hartman
http://books.google.com/books?id=jcIUAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA146&lpg=PA146&dq=A+Brown+Mutation+in+the+Opossum+%28Didelphis+virginiana%29+with+Remarks+upon+the+Gray+and+the+Black+Phases+in+This+Species&source=bl&ots=YBTZfxVvMK&sig=bh0HzxIU3D0yF01thDpZeZHtPdI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fRXsU57UBsHvoATqtILIAg&ved=0CD8Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Indiana DNR - Opossum
http://www.in.gov/dnr/fishwild/3367.htm
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The Wild Mammals of Missouri by Schwartz 
http://books.google.com/books?id=uEWl0ZM6DfUC&pg=PA24&lpg=PA24&dq=opossum+brown+underfur&source=bl&ots=R-GReqYKuM&sig=-BvF8kYYn5bKo5enq4WZU1308ZI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=TxnsU9uRHM6dygTnw4HYCg&ved=0CEoQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q&f=false
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Preliminary Study of the North American Opossums of the Genus Didelphis by J. A. Allen.
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=wgstAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&authuser=0&hl=en&pg=GBS.PA147