Sept., 1909.] THE VICTOHlAN NATURALIST. 57 



them, and the State pays a bounty for their scalps ; and in spite 

 of it all, they are increasing rapidly every year. 



When foxes were first introduced, the principal fear expressed 

 was that they might turn out to be troublesome to sheep-breeders. 

 It was also thought that the farmers' hen-roosts miglit suffer. 

 But no one seems to have taken into account the probable effect 

 that tliey would have upon our native animals and birds. As it 

 happens, the damage they have done amongst the pastoralists' 

 flocks and the country poultry-yards is comparatively small. In 

 some districts, where other food is scarce, they take an annual 

 toll of lambs and cast ewes ; but over large areas they exist side 

 by side with the sheep, and give the farmer or the squatter no 

 trouble. Their principal food is the omnipresent rabbit, and 

 there is no doubt that, from year to year, they account for a large 

 number of these pests. 



But the great objection to the fox is that he is a born hunter, 

 and has an msatiable lust for blood. If he gets the opportunity 

 to kill he seizes it eagerly, quite apart from whether he is hungry 

 or not. Curiously enough, the fox is a very small eater, and the 

 average fox will thrive on what would be a starvation allowance 

 to a dog of his size. But though he only requires small quantities 

 of food, he is always on the look-out for food of a special quality, 

 and he delights in hunting for it. With regard to the killing of 

 lambs, the fox almost invariabiy eats only the tongue of his 

 victim. This is so extremely small that lamb after lamb is killed 

 before the slaughterer has secured a decent meal. In this case, 

 too, it is probable that the love of killing is partly responsible for 

 the death of many of the lambs. When a fox gets into a hen- 

 roost much the same thing occurs. Everything is killed, and, 

 unless the fox happens to be particularly hungry, very little is 

 eaten. 



This is the instinct which has made the fox such a danger to 

 our native fauna. Unfortunately for our wild birds and animals, 

 the life of security that they led prior to the coming of the fox 

 has made them an easy victim in most cases to their new and 

 cunning foe. Previously the dingo and the native cat were their 

 only enemies ; but from neither of these did they suffer a tithe 

 of what they now undergo from the teeth of the fox. I have 

 made a list of the native birds and animals that are suffering from 

 the attack of the fox, and it is appalling in its completeness. 

 For the fox is so catholic in his taste that nothing in fur or 

 feathers seems to come amiss to him. Even the strong-smelling 

 and sinewy 'possum is a constant victim. The 'possum is a good 

 example of how long-existing previous immunity leads to habits 

 of carelessness. So long as he keeps in the trees, the 'possum, of 

 course, is safe. But it is the invariable habit of this animal to 

 come to the ground in the course of the night, and to wander 



