It digs so rapidly that it has gained the reputation of being able to sink into the ground. Some food apparently is obtained by digging, as evidenced by the pronounced scratching or raking habit of captives. The diet includes plant material, small rodents, birds and their eggs, lizards, and insects, such as the noxious migratory locusts. Although an abundance of fennec tracks around some water holes indicates that this fox drinks freely when the opportunity arises, travelers also report tracks in the desert far from oases. The fennec lives in groups of up to 10 individuals.
Males mark their territory with urine and become aggressive during the breeding season.
Females are aggressive and defend the nest site when they have newborn offspring. Males remain with their mate after the young are born and defend them but do not enter the maternal den. Mating occurs in January and February in captivity, and the young are born in late winter and early spring. Females normally give birth once a year, but if the first litter is lost, another may be produced 2.5-3 months later. Although it does no harm to human interests, the fennec is intensively hunted by the native people of the Sahara.