THE DOG FAMILY—FOX. 



239 



tenderly, and, in fact, overdo their solicitude, for 

 they betray their presence with the intention of pro- 

 tecting their offspring from danger. As soon as they 

 see a Man, even at a distance, they begin to yelp 

 and bark, probably with the intention of frightening 

 him away. 

 Hunting and Arctic Foxes are trapped and hunted 

 Taming of Arc- in various ways; they are caught in 

 tic Foxes. nets, nooses and iron traps. These 

 Foxes probably have also dangerous enemies in the 

 Polar Bears, and the sea Eagles also seem to pursue 

 them. Steller saw an Eagle seize a Fox with his 

 talons, lift him up and then drop him on the ground, 

 the Fox being killed by the fall. The fur is really 

 the only thing for which the Arctic Fox is useful to 

 Man. Arctic explorers have been reduced to the 

 necessity of eating its flesh, but all such unfortu- 

 nates agree that its meat is not a dainty. 



goes a change according to the season. The sum- 

 mer fur grows afresh and is reddish in tint, while in 

 the winter fur every hair has a wide silver-white ring 

 preceding the dark tip, and in the resulting general 

 color sometimes the reddish and sometimes the 

 white hue will predominate. 



The Corsac ranges from the steppes surrounding 

 the Caspian Sea to Mongolia, but the animal inhab- 

 its only desert or steppe-like regions, never being 

 found in forests nor in mountainous countries. He 

 has no permanent place of abode, not being addicted 

 to burrowing for himself, but roams about and 

 takes his sleep in the open country; or at times he 

 may utilize a Bobac burrow found by chance, and 

 sometimes, perhaps, may enlarge it for his own 

 occupancy. In such Marmot holes several, or at 

 least two, Corsacs are said to be frequently found 

 together. The Corsac's principal food seems to be 



THE ARCTIC FOX. This inhabitant of the frigid regions of the North is a hold and 



of its relatives. This species of the Foxes is vigorously hunted because the fur which nature has given it to withstand the northern winter is 

 dense, warm and beautiful. Some are pure white and others have a darker hue of a bluish tinge, but all are of the same species and are fre- 

 quently found in the same pack as shown in the picture. (Vulfics lagopus.) 



Arctic Foxes taken young become tolerably tame 

 and may be taught to follow their master like Dogs. 

 As a usual thing they are of an irritable temper, 

 however, and when they are touched they growl like 

 angry Dogs, and their green, flashing eyes assume a 

 ferocious glare. They do not very well tolerate 

 others of their own kind in their cage. 



The Corsac, Of the other Foxes I will here only 

 or Fox of mention those which are distinguished 



the Steppes. Dv a peculiar mode of life or a striking 

 color. A small variety is the Asiatic neighbor of 

 the Common Fox, the Fox of the Steppes, or, as he 

 is called by the Russian, the Corsac ( Vulpes corsac). 

 He is much the inferior of Reynard in size, his 

 length being twenty-two or twenty-four inches at 

 the most, exclusive of the tail, which measures four- 

 teen inches. In appearance and manners he much 

 resembles his kinsman. His dense fur shows less 

 variety than the Wolf or Common Fox, but under- 



Hares and Mice, but he also preys on birds, Liz- 

 ards and Frogs, and also, probably, on larger insects, 

 particularly Grasshoppers. 



He is zealously pursued, especially by the Kir- 

 ghiz people, for his winter fur is soft, thick, warm 

 and handsome. Besides being caught in traps and 

 nooses put in front of his holes, he is baited by Dogs, 

 after having been driven out by smoke. The Tar- 

 tars have trained more dangerous animals for his 

 chase than Dogs. They use tamed Eagles and Fal- 

 cons to capture him and the poor fellow can cer- 

 tainly not escape such winged pursuers. 



I have kept living Corsacs for a tolerably long 

 time and have often seen other captive Corsacs, but 

 have seen no essential differences between their 

 behavior and that of the Common Fox. A Corsac 

 is one of the happiest inhabitants of a zoological 

 garden, soon feels at home in his cage, does not 

 dread either the heat of summer or the cold of 



