422 SrOItTINQ ADVENTURES IN THE FAR WEST. 



Oregon, and other Northern wooded regions. It lias a 

 length of from twenty- seven to thirty inches; its brush 

 varies from thirteen to eighteen inches in length ; its ears 

 project about two and a half inches above the skull ; and 

 it has a height of from twelve to fifteen inches. 



It does not burrow like the red fox ; but if it does go to 

 earth at all, its den has only one entrance, so that it is easi- 

 ly driven out. Its favorite places of concealment are in 

 thickets or the hollow of fallen trees ; and, if started from 

 these, it seeks safety in rank herbage, or in the densest part 

 of the forest. I have hunted it sometimes, but I never saw 

 it run to earth, its usual means of escape being to leap on 

 an inclined tree and jump from branch to branch. Though 

 having no retractile claws, yet it can climb small trunks by 

 hugging them much as a bear would, and it can get to the 

 topmost branches almost as quickly as a raccoon. 



When pressed by the hounds, it is treed as surely as the 

 red fox is run to earth, and is generally brought down 

 from its lofty pinnacle with a rifle or shot-gun, as its skin 

 is valued at five dollars. The old fable about the fox that 

 had a thousand tricks with which to baffle its pursuers, 

 while the cat had only one, and that to climb a tree, would 

 not hold good on the Pacific slope, for the gray is not 

 much behind the felis in its power to get among the 

 branches. They tell of a Californian youth who was sent 

 to a university in the Atlantic Stales to complete his edu- 

 cation, and who corrected his teacher (a native of Europe) 

 in natural history about the ability of the fox to climb. 

 " What !" said the irritated tutor ; " do you mean to tell 

 me an untruth, and say that a fox can climb a tree?" " It 

 ain't an untruth," said the other, " because I've seen him do 

 it." The teacher appealed to the class to know if any of 

 them had seen such a phenomenon, and they all replied in 

 the negative. The daring student was then escorted to the 

 president to learn what should be done with him for his 

 impertinence, and making the statement he did; but that 

 worthy individual, turning to the tutor, said, " I think, Mr. 

 P , that in future this young man might help you to 



