THE FOX 81 



not be without interest to some of my readers. 

 The fox belongs to the great order of flesh-eating 

 animals called Carnivora, and of the family called 

 Canidce, or dogs. The wolf is a kind of wild dog, 

 and the fox is a kind of wolf. Foxes, unlike wolves, 

 however, never go in packs or companies, but hunt 

 singly. The fox has a kind of bark, which suggests 

 the dog, as have all the members of this family. 

 The kinship is further shown by the fact that dur 

 ing certain periods, for the most part in the sum 

 mer, the dog cannot be made to attack or even pur 

 sue the female fox, but will run from her in the 

 most shamefaced manner, which he will not do in 

 the case of any other animal except a wolf. Many 

 of the ways and manners of the fox, when tamed, 

 are also 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 

 he would a puppy, and the innocent young rascal 

 would lie on his side and bask and sleep in the sun 

 shine, amid all the noise and chaffering around him, 

 precisely like a dog. He was about the size of a 

 full-grown cat, and there was a bewitching beauty 

 about him that I could hardly resist. On another 

 occasion, I saw a gray fox, about two thirds grown, 

 playing with a dog, about the same size, and by 

 nothing in the manners of either could you tell 

 which was the dog and which was the fox. 



Some naturalists think there are but two perma 

 nent species of the fox in the United States, namely, 



