730 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



I do not think he was asleep when we passed him, because 

 we had a heavy wagon and the oxen were driven with the usual 

 noise. I believe he was watching over or through' his tail, and 

 would have lain still, trusting to escape notice, had not my 

 brother alarmed him by leaving the trail and stepping towards 

 him. 



The Fox does not have its regular hours of sleeping any 

 more than of eating, except that it prefers to sleep in sunlight, 



but its sleep may be broken into a dozen naps, for it curls up 

 when it feels tired and has satisfied its hunger. 



Foxes have little use for a den in the winter. At one time 

 I thought they kept entirely clear of them while the snow was 

 on the ground, but in following one that had gone off with a 

 trap on his foot, I found that he went into every den and 

 Badger hole that he came to, apparently in hopes of leaving 

 the trap behind. 



W. R. Hine tells me that he also has tracked Foxes into 

 dens when there was snow. 



I have several times seen a Fox mobbed by birds, usually 

 crows, but once by a lot of kill-deers. These noisy plovers 

 seemed to be actuated by fear for their young, recognizing very 

 clearly that the Fox was an enemy, but the crows could not 



