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The animal on the cover of Applied Text Analysis with Python is the kit fox (Vulpes macrotis), a small mammal native to the American Southwest and northern Mexico. It is the smallest species of fox in North America, with a weight ranging from 3.5 to 6 pounds and height ranging from 17.9 to 21.1 inches. Notably, kit foxes have disproportionately large ears, which give them excellent hearing and allow them to regulate their body temperature. They have a gray fur coat, often with red and orange coloring.

Kit foxes live in dry, desert regions and are nocturnal, hunting their prey at night. They eat smaller mammals like mice, rabbits, and voles, along with insects, lizards, and birds. Kit foxes are socially monogamous, mating annually between December and February. Litters are born in March and April and usually contain 1 to 7 pups. Both parents assist in rearing the young, who become independent and leave the communal den after 5 to 6 months.

Although kit foxes are not currently listed as endangered, there are no reliable estimates of their population. There are indications that their population is declining in areas where agriculture has spread into previously uninhabited regions. They also face intense competition for prey with other predators, such as coyotes, bobcats, and golden eagles.

Many of the animals on O’Reilly covers are endangered; all of them are important to the world. To learn more about how you can help, go to animals.oreilly.com.

The cover image is from Lydekker’s Royal Natural History. The cover fonts are URW Typewriter and Guardian Sans. The text font is Adobe Minion Pro; the heading font is Adobe Myriad Condensed; and the code font is Dalton Maag’s Ubuntu Mono.