RANDOM NOTES ON NATURAL HISTORY. 



93 



The Coast Fox ( Vulpes Uttoralis) , Baird. 



BY E. W. BLAKE, JR. 



Next to Santa Rosa, Santa Cniz is the 

 largest of the group of islands off the coast 

 of Southern California. It is situated about 

 three hundred miles south of San Francisco, 

 and lies nearh' twenty-five miles off shore. 

 The island is about twenty-three miles in 

 length, and in its widest part, perhaps seven 

 miles broad. Santa Cruz is owned by a 

 stock company, and is emplo3ed as a sheep 

 ranch, about twenty-five thousand head be- 

 ing kept there. 



In general character the island is mount- 

 ainous, the highest peaks being about 

 twenty-eight hundred feet above the sea. 

 Between two long ridges, extending nearly 

 the entire length of the island, is a narrow 

 but comparatively level valley, where stand 

 the ranch-house and its adjoining sheds — 

 the only buildings on the island. Along the 

 shore are lines of lofty cliffs, with occa- 

 sional coves or harbors which form the ex- 

 tremities of canons running up the sides of 

 the mountains. 



In winter Santa Cruz is covered with 

 grass and flowers, and there is plenty of 

 water in the caiions, but in summer everj'- 

 thing becomes drj' and the streams shrink 

 to mere rivulets, or disappear altogether. 



A volume might easily be filled with an 

 account of the curious birds and animals 

 upon the island ; it is the purpose of the 

 present sketch to describe the habits of one 

 species which is not ver}' generally known — 

 the coast fox, {Vulijes Uttoralis)^ Baird. 



The coast fox is found only upon the 

 Santa Barbara islands, and seems to be en- 

 tirely distinct from the fox upon the main- 

 land. Upon Santa Cruz it is ver^' common ; 

 I have often seen a dozen in a morning's 

 walk. The most noticeable peculiarity of 

 the Coast Fox is its diminutive size. Full- 

 grown individuals measure onl}- about thirt}- 

 inches in length, including the tail. The 

 coloration is as follows : above, including 

 the upper half of the tail, silver gray ; 

 beneath, including the lower half of the 

 tail, reddish fawn color ; chin and throat pure 

 white, forehead and a spot at the corner of 

 the mouth, dusky brown ; a dark stripe 

 along the tail. 



As Santa Cruz is but rarely visited, the 

 foxes have become wonderfully tame. 



While I vas camping out upon the island 

 during the past summer (1886) the foxes 

 soon learned to come around camp about 

 dinner-time, to secure the scraps of meat 

 and fish which were thrown to them by my 

 companions and myself. Our camp was in 

 a cafion, where the stream had washed out 

 a deep channel for itself in winter, and di- 

 minishing in summer, had left a convenient 

 place beneath the overhanging banks. The 

 foxes would approach quite boldly to the 

 very edge of these banks — within a few 

 feet of our heads — and carr}- off whatever 

 we left for them. Nor were their incursions 

 entirel}' confined to legitimate spoils. Any 

 small article, edible or not, which we left 

 lying about camp in the evening, was apt 

 to disappear in the night, — gloves, stockings, 

 handkerchiefs, sponges, soap, even a pocket 

 of fish-hooks were thus mysteriously spir- 

 ited away. In general, however, the missing 

 articles were discovered not far from camp, 

 Ij'ing where the foxes had dropped them, 

 but some of them we never saw again. 



As we saw the foxes ever}' day, we soon 

 learned to distinguish them by their indi- 

 vidual peculiarities, and even named sev- 

 eral of our most regular visitors. "Dick," 

 "Jenny," " Pete," and " Uncle Joe" came 

 nearly every afternoon ; sometimes all four 

 would be eating together. They were es- 

 pecially fond of fish, vvhetherraw or cooked, 

 but did not refuse corned beef, ham, or ba- 

 con. The}' even ate ship's biscuit, and 

 " Dick" was once discovered surreptitiously' 

 licking the grease from a sauoe-pan, but 

 their favorite delicacy' was spoilt blackberry 

 jam. We had brought over a can of this 

 preserve, which upon examination proved 

 unfit for use, so we abandoned it to the 

 foxes. In two days the can was as clean 

 as the most exacting housewife could desire. 

 On going down to the beach one da}', we 

 found it literally covered with hundreds and 

 thousands of little fish, about the size of 

 sardines, some dead, and others still alive. 

 The}' had evidently been driven into our 

 cove by a school of big bass, and were be- 

 ing cast up by the surf and left on the 

 beach by the receding tide. We picked up 

 about eight hundred and fifty — weighing 

 eleven pounds in all — and took them up 

 to camp. We soon found that we had a 

 good many more than we could eat, and we 

 gave the foxes a treat. They were very 



