FOX-FARMING IN CANADA 41 



150 lineal feet of ground wire, 2^ or 3 feet wide or even more, 



2-inch mesh, gauge No. 14. 

 150 lineal feet of carpet wire, 30 inches wide, 2-inch mesh, gauge 



No. 14. 

 Nails, spikes, staples, hinges, locks for door and No. 16 soft lacing 



wire. 



It is not customary to use a smaller meshed wire at the ground 

 level, but cases are known of the death of fox pups caused by having 

 their heads caught in the two-inch mesh. A smaller mesh, therefore, 

 if it could be procured in No. 15 gauge, furnishes an additional precau- 

 tion against the death of the valuable animals. 



A new type of paddock fence, which is evidently an improvement, 

 is being put up in some of the newest ranches. Instead of the two- 

 inch mesh No. 16 wire, a strip of galvanized sheet iron three feet wide 

 is fastened at a height of four or five feet from the ground. Joist 

 pieces 2 inches by 4 inches are placed from post to post to nail to. 

 The advantage of the sheet iron is that foxes cannot climb to the top 

 of the fence and fall, breaking their legs or producing a rupture or an 

 abortion. One pen was seen where the sheet iron was placed at the 

 top of the posts and no overhang was required. Foxes climb fences 

 only when badly frightened. Such a state of fear is to be avoided, 

 but with some animals, may be impossible to control. Sharp sticks 

 and stumps near the fence should be taken out lest the falling fox 

 be ruptured or otherwise hurt. The middle toe nails of the fox may 

 be cut off every few months to prevent climbing, or the sheet iron used 

 as described above. It should not be placed near the ground as it 

 would interfere with the circulation of air in the paddock. The objection 

 to the iron is that the reflected heat makes the pens warmer in summer. 



The door into the paddock should be placed from eighteen 

 Door *^ to twenty-four inches above the ground level and should 



be provided with good hinges and a good lock. If no 

 exterior fence is iised, make a double door entrance, so that one door 

 is closed and locked before the other is opened. If foxes have the 

 run of two pens, a door between the pens set up two feet high and 

 v/ith a sloping platform on each side from the sill to the ground, should 

 be provided. Doors should be about 2 feet by 4 feet in dimensions. 

 Many ranchers have a small passageway between pens, which foxes 

 are obliged to crawl through. When playing, they do this so often 

 that they wear off the guard hair over the hips and shoulders. 



In the earlier days, the houses were of logs, which were 

 buried in the soil to simulate fox burrows. Later, a 

 small box was placed within a larger one and the inter- 



