THE CARNTVORA. 49 



it has been alleged to outwit its more j^owerful adversaries 

 is that of feigning death (hence known as " foxing "), a 

 habit commonly observed in the Australian dingo ; but 

 few hunting -men appear to believe this, none to have 

 seen it. 



The accomplishments of this much -hunted animal in 

 making good its escape are many and varied. It is swift 

 of foot, can on very rare occasions clamber up a tree out of 

 reach of the hounds, and will even, when hard pressed by 

 them, take to the water and swim with great ease and at 

 considerable speed. It also fouls the scent, and is even 

 said to roll in manure with this object. In the recent floods 

 in the Fen Country (1897) foxes were, however, reduced 

 to such straits, more especially on the various temporary 

 islands, as to become quite tame. This shows that these 

 animals are not by nature fitted for long distances in the 

 water, choosing it only in preference to the more certain 

 death behind. A case was, how^ever, not long since re- 

 ported in which a vixen reared a litter on an islet, travers- 

 ing several hundred yards of water every few hours to 

 procure food for the family. A good deal of this so-called 

 cunning in seeking sanctuary, some interesting examples 

 of which were enumerated in a recent issue of the ' English 

 Illustrated Magazine,' may in fact be attributed to the 

 desperation to which the terrified beast is reduced. It 

 would be too much to think that it stopped to argue to 

 itself whether or not the hounds would follow it into that 

 favourite and oft-quoted asylum, the old woman's apple- 

 cart. 



Though known to excavate now and again the earth in 



which, curled up like all dogs, it passes the day, and in 



the hills frequenting heaps of fallen rocks, it more often 



appropriates the burrow of the badger, so foul- 

 << Earths," . . . 



ing it that the real owner has — being, for all 



the popular estimate of its offensive odour, a fastidious 



beast — no more taste for it. Were the intruder not to 



adopt some such plan, indeed, it would probably be 



D 



