70 SQUIRRELS AND OTHER FUR-BEARERS 



The old fox, finding her secret had been found 

 out, had waited for darkness, in the cover of 

 which to transfer her household to new quar- 

 ters ; or else some old fox-hunter, jealous of the 

 preservation of his game, and getting word of 

 the intended destruction of the litter, had gone 

 at dusk the night before, and made some dis- 

 turbance about the den, perhaps flashed some 

 powder in its mouth, a hint which the shrewd 

 animal knew how to interpret. 



The fox nearly always takes his nap during 

 the day in the open fields, along the sides of the 

 ridges, or under the mountain, where he can look 

 down upon the busy farms beneath and hear their 

 many sounds, the barking of dogs, the lowing of 

 cattle, the cackling of hens, the voices of men 

 and boys, or the sound of travel upon the high- 

 way. It is on that side, too, that he keeps 

 the sharpest lookout, and the appearance of the 

 hunter above and behind him is always a sur- 

 prise. 



Foxes, unlike wolves, never go in packs or 

 companies, but hunt singly. Many of the ways 

 and manners of the fox, when tamed, are like the 

 dog's. I once saw a young red fox exposed for 

 sale in the market in Washington. A colored 

 man had him, and said he had caught him out 

 in Virginia. He led him by a small chain, as 



