CLASS MAMMALIA 653 



The other families are the civets and mungooses (VI 

 of Europe, Asia, and Africa, the aard wolves (PROTETID..E) of 

 Africa, and the hyaenas (HY^ENID^) of Africa and Asia. 



The CANID^E are represented in North America by the wolves 

 and foxes. These animals walk on their toes (digitigrade), 

 possess blunt, non-retractile claws, and have a more or less 

 elongated muzzle. The red fox, Vulpes fulvus, ranges from 

 northern North America south to Georgia. It is persistently 

 hunted by the poultry raiser because of its fondness for chickens, 

 but the benefits derived from the destruction of field mice, 

 rabbits, ground squirrels, woodchucks, and insects, which con- 

 stitute the larger part of a fox's food, probably more than 

 repay the loss of a few fowls. Foxes seek their food most 

 actively in the morning and evening twilight. They are 

 monogamous; mate in February and March; and bring forth, 

 on the average, five young in April or May. The black phase 

 of the red fox is called by furriers " silver fox," and high prices 

 are paid for skins of this phase. Skins of the ordinary red fox 

 bring from $1.50 to $3.50 each, but those of the silver fox range 

 from $50 to $250, and pure black skins command from $500 

 to $2000 each. Silver fox farming may be carried on success- 

 fully, and it seems probable " that under proper management fox 

 raising will be developed into a profitable industry." (Osgood.) 



The arctic, or blue fox, Vulpes lagopus, inhabits the Arctic 

 regions, where it lives in burrows; and feeds on wild fowl and 

 small mammals, especially lemmings and polar hares. In the 

 winter its fur may become perfectly white, enabling it to creep 

 upon its prey unseen. The gray fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, 

 is the common species in the eastern part of North America. It 

 is partial to the forests of uncultivated regions, and makes its 

 home more frequently in a hollow tree or stump than in a burrow. 



The genus Canis is represented in North America by the gray 

 or timber wolf, C. occidentals, and the coyote, or prairie-wolf, 

 C. latrans. The gray wolf ranges over the Great Plains and the 

 Rocky Mountains. It is over four feet in length and very power- 



