690 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



Chipping-squirrel, and other quadrupeds. It has been men- 

 tioned to us that in the territories to the north of the Gulf of 

 St. Lawrence they destroy the Arctic Fox, and make great havoc 

 among the Lemmings (Georychus). Hearne informs us (p. 366) 

 that in Hudson Bay they 'seldom leave a place which is 

 frequented by Rabbits, till they have killed nearly all of them.' 

 They are said to pounce on the wild goose at its breeding 

 places, and to destroy many Marmots and Spermophiles by 

 lying in wait for them at their burrows." 



We shall probably find in its food list every living creature 

 that it can overcome, which means all smaller than itself, 

 not excluding snakes, frogs, and insects. There are probably but 

 two lesser fellow woodsmen that the Lynx lets alone; these 

 are the Skunk and the Porcupine. Starvation, however, may 

 overcome its fear of these, as is shown by Audubon and Bach- 

 man:'" "At a public house in Canada, we were shown the 

 skin of one of these Lynxes, the animal having been found 

 quite helpless and nearly dead in the woods. It appears that, 

 leaping onto a Porcupine, it had caught a Tartar, as its head 

 was greatly inflamed and it was nearly blind. Its mouth was 

 full of the sharp quills of that well-defended animal, which 

 would in a day or two have occasioned its death." 



FOX- Most persons are surprised to learn that in the thickly 



KILLER 1 I 



wooded country the Lynx is a deadly enemy of the Fox. 



One of my guides in the Kippewa region of Quebec 

 (Archie Miller) tells me that in January, 1904, as he crossed 

 Askoe Lake near Kippewa, he saw a Lynx and a Fox about 80 

 yards ofT, fighting on the snow. He watched them for about 

 15 minutes. The Fox was trying to get away, but the deep, 

 soft snow was against it, and finally it was overtaken and killed 

 by the Lynx. When Miller came up the victor ran ofi^ into 

 the woods. In the fight an acre of snow was trampled all over; 

 they must have been at it for an hour. The tracks showed 

 that they began the battle in a woods near by, where there were 

 many Rabbits. The Fox's neck was torn open and its heart 



•» Ibid. 



