212 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 



enemies in the wilderness, and the skill in avoiding 

 them inherited from innumerable ancestors serves it 

 well when in civilized lands the fox finds troops of 

 dogs set upon its track. 



"Standard works are supplemented by admirable 

 essays on the American fox by Thoreau, Burroughs, 

 Lottridge, Robinson, Seton, and others who know him 

 well; none is more complete and intimate than the 

 history given by Mr. Cram, who asserts that in New 

 England, at least, the foxes in cultivated districts 

 are far more highly developed in intellect than are 

 those of the outlying parts, or than were the foxes 

 of a century ago. They are the most bold, skillful, 

 and inveterate of poultry thieves, and will sometimes 

 take as many as 'thirty pullets in a single night'; 

 and often half or more of the booty of such a raid 

 will be found in a pile in some hiding-place, which 

 goes to show that the foxes of all cold regions prob- 

 ably store surplus food. In return for levying upon 

 his chickens (or, in Europe, upon the pheasants and 

 other treasures of the gamekeeper) the animal aids 

 the farmer by destroying numberless rats, mice, 

 gophers, and similar pests." 



Value of fox fur. Of all the products de- 

 rived from wild animals furs are the most 

 useful and valuable. Indispensable to primi- 

 tive man, they are scarcely less important to 

 the most civilized, for in warmth, beauty and 

 durability, no manufactured fabrics excel them, 



