Prairie Red-fox 733 



In the den already described by G. L. Fordyce was a 

 large separate apartment for stores. In it he found two 

 lambs, one partly eaten, a ruffed grouse, a Cottontail Rabbit, 

 and a Muskrat, all perfectly fresh, with the exception of one 

 lamb, they had not been eaten at all. The Muskrat was not 

 injured in any way by the old Fox, the only marks on the 

 body being where she had crushed its back in killing it. He 

 found this out in removing the skin, v/hich he afterwards 

 sold. 



B. R. Ross credits the northern Fox with the highest kind 

 of storage. He says:" "When a Fox finds a piece of meat or a 

 fish, he almost invariably hides it, and returns to eat it at some 

 future time. I have remarked this trait even in cubs which I 

 have reared in confinement, and which used previous to eating, 

 to dig holes in the snow, to bury their food, pushing the snow 

 with their noses to cover it. During the commencement of 

 summer he will lay up a store of the eggs of the wild-fowl, for 

 his winter consumption. These he deposits in holes dug in 

 the sand bars of the river, or in beds of moss, and at the expira- 

 tion of several months will, when hard pressed by want, visit 

 his caches. Even when there are several feet of snow, he will 

 readily distinguish the place by scenting his urine with which 

 a Fox usually sprinkles in a liberal manner all his secret 

 hoards." 



This storage habit is asserted also by Thomas Anderson, 

 of Fort Smith. He says that it is well known in that country 

 that the Fox stores eggs for time of famine. 



Fox-dung is not an attractive study material at first, but dung 

 after a few weeks' exposure to rain and sun it is dried, bleached, 

 and purified. All foecal matter is gone, though it retains its 

 shape. Now it is odorless and closely resembles owl-pellets. 



The undigested remains of Mice, birds, etc., their skulls, 

 feet, hair, and feathers are easily separated and distinguished. 

 A valuable chapter on Fox food can be gathered from such 

 examinations. Those that I have conducted go to prove that 



• Fur-bearing Animals, Mack. R. Dist., Can. Nat., 1861, p. 17. 



