ITY 



734 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



by far the largest proportion of this food is Mice and Gophers, 

 so that, on the whole, our Manitoba Fox must be considered a 

 creature beneficial to agriculture. 



HYBRID- On January 28, 1902, at the Cincinnati Zoo, I was shown 



a curious creature supposed to be a cross between a Fox and a 

 dog. The Director said it had been found in the woods near 

 Cincinnati when it was perhaps two months old. It was 

 lying in a hollow stump with two others of the same kind. 

 The boy who found them carried them home without waiting 

 to see of what sort the parents were. Two died, but this one 

 was successfully reared on a bottle. Its appearance suggested 

 Coyote rather than Fox, I thought, but there were no Coyotes 

 within some hundreds of miles. The creature was good- 

 natured and friendly and had much the appearance of a slim, 

 yellowish sheep-dog. 



On September 16, 1901, while camped in Colorado, on the 

 South Fork of William's River, the boys of my outfit found a 

 sick Fox {V. macrourus) in a willow thicket. It was very thin 

 and weak, and its hind-legs were paralyzed; it could hardly 

 walk. One of the men killed it with his riding-whip and 

 brought it to me for examination. Its mouth was full of 

 Porcupine quills, doubtless its inside also was suffering from 

 the same, but its condition was such that I did not risk an 

 autopsy. Though an adult male, it weighed only 6 pounds 

 10 ounces. 



There can be no doubt that in the northern wilderness 

 Foxes are preyed on by Wolves, Lynxes, and Fishers, while 

 their young are destroyed by every evil beast that can find 

 them, as well as by most of the larger birds of prey. 



1 he killing of a Fox by an eagle is described in great detail 

 by a correspondent of Forest and Stream.'' The eagle was the 

 aggressor, and the Fox, being on the open prairie, had no 

 chance to seek cover. As the tragedy took place near Estevan, 

 Sask., the Fox was probably of the present species. 



' W. M., Forest and Stream, February g, i8g6. 



