ING 



744 Life-histories of Northern Animals 



it till he is hungry, keeping a watch on the place lest any fellow 

 captive should steal his hoard. 



Stevens has been in the business for two years; he has 20 

 or 30 Foxes, and reports none lost at any time by disease. 



Norton has had five years' experience; he carries 30 to 

 40 Foxes, and reports that one or two die each year from a 

 disease that affects the head. It causes a running of the nose 

 and fills the ears with scab. A careful comparison of their 

 systems of diet shows that the Norton Foxes get more meat than 

 the Stevens Foxes. 



BREED- In a state of nature the Fox is a monogamous animal; 



is believed to pair for life. In captivity the breeders en- 

 courage polygamy, letting one very choice male serve several 

 females. The embarrassingly high moral standard of the 

 Fox is one of the difficulties of the breeder, but there is good 

 reason to believe that human care and influence will under- 

 mine their awkward scruples exactly as with the dog and 

 other animals that have submitted to domestic life. I am 

 told, on the other hand, that polyandry is bad. If a breed- 

 ing female is allowed to join with two males in the same 

 season, the result is said to be sterility. I do not know what 

 this is grounded on. 



Over-fat animals do not breed. It is a great mistake to 

 over-feed. In this we probably find one reason for the in- 

 fecundity of Foxes in most menageries. An ordinary Fox 

 weighs 8 or 9 pounds. The largest and fattest Norton ever 

 had was i6| pounds. The breeders should be kept down 

 to about 10 pounds. Stevens claims that of those that mate 

 in his yard half are fertile; Norton claims only one-third. 

 As also noted, Stevens feeds them less, but something may 

 also be due to the fact that the Stevens farm is on a quiet hill- 

 side in the country, while the Norton farm is in the busy town 

 of Dover. 



The wild Foxes mate in late January or early February, 

 the captives are four or five weeks later. When the timecomes 

 the female utters her peculiar squeal and the male answers 



