24 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 
seen ared vixen in that locality, and it was reported one winter that 
a silver fox was seen running with her. The following July (1900), 
Louis Holland and Louis Spence found the den and proceeded to dig 
the young foxes out. They found four blacks and three reds, which they 
sold to Charles Dalton for $300. 
Many other instances show that litters frequently occur in nature 
as described above—half of the litter silver and half of it red. One red 
female ranched in Nova Scotia and mated to a silver fox has produced 
fourteen pups in the years 1910, 1911 and 1912. Seven of the pups are 
red and seven silver. 
Most of the fox-breeders in other provinces have sold silver and 
dark silver stock to Prince Edward Island, where the demand has been 
greatest. Probably in all the dozen or more ranches in Ontario there are 
not two score silver foxes. The stock kept are bastard and cross foxes 
that produce litters with a proportion of silver pups. As their ex- 
perience in selling fur has not led them to believe the present high prices 
for breeders in the Maritime Provinces are warranted by the pelt value 
of the animals, the attitude of Ontario ranchers has, in general, been 
to sell out at the high prices offered. 
Because of continued importations of foreign stock into Prince 
Edward Island, probably thirty or forty per cent. of the silver foxes 
have been crossed with outside stock. In the majority of cases, the fur 
value has been lessened though, possibly, the crosses in some cases result 
in an improvement in size, fecundity, or other valuable quality. 
The appearance of many of the imported foxes examined would 
seem to warrant the conclusion that they are usually of a much lower 
fur value, especially those from Newfoundland (sub-species V. deletriz), 
whose pelts almost uniformly have a rusty-black appearance and are 
coarse and ‘flaky.’ The Quebec and Labrador foxes (sub-species V. 
bangst) are much superior to those from Newfoundland. The Ontario 
foxes (sub-species V. fulvus) are secured from so many distant points 
that it is impossible to make a positive statement respecting their qual- 
ity. Some of them appear to be first class and will prove to be excellent 
foundation stock for selective breeding for fur. 
Fur experts who have given special study to the fauna of Canada 
say that the red and silver foxes found on the Athabaska river and in 
the Yukon and Alaska are often of great value. These regions should 
produce a weighty pelt and, if good quality were secured in foundation 
stock, conditions for fox ranching should be ideal—especially if venison 
and fish could be easily secured for food. 
