THE !)()(; FAMILY 



95 



THE FOXES 



Foxes form a very well-marked group. They have very pointed muzzles, strong though 

 slightly built bodies, very fine thick fur, often beautifully coloured and very valuable, bushy tails, 

 pricked-up ears, and eyes with pupils which contract by day into a mere slit. They are quite 

 distinct from dogs (although wolves are not), and will not interbreed, though stories are told to 

 the contrary. The smell of a fox is disgusting t>> a dog, and quite sufficient to distinguish it. 



If the present writer takes a simpler view of the kinds and species of foxes than that 

 adopted by many naturalists, he must plead to a study of the subject on slightly different lines 

 than those usually followed. The skins of all foxes are valuable, some more than others. But 

 they are sent in hundreds of thousands, and from all parts "f the northern hemisphere, to 

 London to the great fur-sales. There these differences can be studied as they can be studied 



P hoto by C. RtiJ] 



[Wilbaui, N. B. 



FOX CUBS 



Fox cubs are born from March jj till three tveeks later, the time <ivhcn young rabbits, their best food, are most numerous 



nowhere else. As the habits and structure of foxes are much alike, allowing for differeiues 

 of climate, and the discrepancies in size, not more than can be accounted for by abundance or 

 scarcity of food, it seems pretty certain that these animals are some of the few, almost alone 

 among mammals, showing almost every variety of colouring, from black to white, from splendid 

 chameleon-red to salmon-pink, and many exquisite shades of brown, gray and silver. In the 

 East, from Asia Minor to China, red, gray, and yellow fox skins are the lining of everv rich 

 man's winter wraps. Splendid mixed robes are made by the Chinese by inserting portions of 

 cross fox-skins into coats of cut sable, giving the idea that it is the fur of a new animal. 



The Common Fox, the foundation or type of all the above, is the best known carnivorous 

 animal in this country. Abroad its habits do not greatly differ, except that, not being hunted 

 much with hounds, it is less completely nocturnal. It drops its young in a dugout earlv in 

 April. Thither the mother carries food till late in June, when the cubs come out, and often 

 move to a wood or a corn-field. There they are still fed, but learn to do a little on their 

 own account by catching mice and moles. By late September the hounds come cub-hunting, 



