THE FOX 69 



I have never been able to see clearly why 

 the mother fox generally selects a burrow or 

 hole in the open field in which to have her 

 young, except it be, as some hunters maintain, 

 for better security. The young foxes are wont 

 to come out on a warm day, and play like pup- 

 pies in front of the den. The view being un- 

 obstructed on all sides by trees or bushes, in the 

 cover of which danger might approach, they are 

 less liable to surprise and capture. On the 

 slightest sound they disappear in the hole. 

 Those who have watched the gambols of the 

 young foxes speak of them as very amusing, 

 even more arch and playful than those of kit- 

 tens, while a spirit profoundly wise and cunning 

 seems to look out of their young eyes. The 

 parent fox can never be caught in the den with 

 them, but is hovering near the woods, which are 

 always at hand, and by her warning cry or bark 

 telling them when to be on their guard. She 

 usually has at least three dens, at no great dis- 

 tance apart, and moves stealthily in the night 

 with her charge from one to the other, so as 

 to mislead her enemies. Many a party of boys, 

 and of men, too, discovering the whereabouts of 

 a litter, have gone with shovels and picks, and, 

 after digging away vigorously for several hours, 

 have found only an empty hole for their pains. 



