RED FOX 



A Badger that I once came upon as he began digging out a 

 Squirrel was only just below the surface and the ejected earth 

 was flying forth in leisurely spurts. The Badger sensed my 

 footsteps as I drew near and immediately changed his tempo. 

 Muttered snarling and rumbling began to pour out of the hole, 

 and a geyser of earth leaped up four or five feet into the air. 

 As I looked on, the height of this earth column dropped 

 almost with the seconds and in a very short time the Badger 

 was so deep that no more earth reached the surface and the 

 sounds of his subterranean rage were only faintly audible. 



The number of young in a Badger litter is three as an 

 average and ranges from one to five. The young are born 

 late in the spring, May to early June, In regions of severe 

 winters the Badger dens up until the snow has melted. Seton 

 gives the period of hibernation in Manitoba as lasting from 

 the time the ground freezes until April. 



Badger fur, while thick and handsome in color, is rather 

 coarse and is not valued very highly. 



Family Canidae. Wolves, Coyotes and Fcxes 



Medium-sized carnivores of dog-like form; head dog-like, 

 with elongate muzzle; legs rather long; feet digitigrade, with 

 four or five digits ; claws non-retractile ; tail long and unusually 

 bushy; dentition of shearing-crushing type, with well-devel- 

 oped camassial teeth; pelage rather long and thick; habit 

 terrestrial. 



Subfamily Caninae 

 Genus Vulpes 



42. 



Red Fox. ' — Vulpes f ulva 



and related forms 



Names. — Red Fox; Cross Fox; Silver Fox; Black Fox; 

 Silver-gray Fox. Plate XII. 



^ For a Preli7ninary Revision of the North American Red Foxes see 

 C. H., Merriam, Proc. Wash. Acad. Sciences, Vol. 2, pp. 661-676, Dec, 

 1900. 



