34 COMMON BRITISH ANIMALS 



find that the pupil of the eye of the fox closes, though 

 not so completely as that of the cat, in a vertical 

 slit. The fox is a silent, stealthy night hunter, 

 hunting singly and not in packs, as the wolf does. 

 The sensitive whiskers enable him to feel when he 

 cannot see, and the vertically closing pupil betokens 

 sight so keen as to enable him to see in very dim 

 light. In connection with the keen sight of the 

 fox, it may be remarked that the cubs are born 

 blind. His home, which is called an " earth,^' he 

 will sometimes dig out for himself if the soil is 

 sandy and easily worked, or he will adapt to his 

 requirements an old rabbit burrow or the deserted 

 '^ set '' or home of the badger. Occasionally he has 

 been known to occupy the same ^^ set " with this 

 much maligned animal. In the day time he is fond 

 of lying under the cover of gorse bushes. He is 

 very untidy and dirty in his home, littering it with 

 all kinds of refuse. He is also very foul smelling, 

 though to some it would appear that the scent is 

 not disagreeable, since Linnaeus speaks of it as an 

 '' ambrosial odour." In this " earth ^^ are born, 

 usually in March or April, but sometimes earlier, 

 from three to seven cubs. They are carefully tended 

 by the vixen, the dog-fox helping her to hunt for 

 them when they are able to eat solid food. 



The hunting operations are usually carried on at 

 some distance from the earth, nests of young partridges 

 and pheasants quite near it being left unmolested. 

 This is probably an endeavour to conceal the where- 

 abouts of the cubs. The vixen often moves her 

 family, taking them from the earth and sheltering 



