46 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



rabbit; a live hen put into the pen is a standard feed on such on occasion. 

 It is said that a fox which eats the fresh brains and blood will never 

 destroy her young. 



When the mother appears two or three days after the young- 

 are born she should be fed well several times a day with meat, eggs, 

 fresh new milk, meat broth, well-cooked oatmeal and other appetizing 

 and varied foods, while a supply of clean, wholesome water in a clean 

 trough should be constantly available. Live rabbits and poultry, 

 squirrel and other game may be used to give variety to her ration. 



Despite the assertions of many experienced breeders 

 Management ^^^^^ feeding is the most difficult of all operations in fox 



ranching, very little evidence was found to confirm 

 this opinion. Few cases of failure due to bad dieting were noted. 

 It is not difficult to keep foxes alive in captivity and, usually, the cause 

 of nearly every loss can be traced. Occasionally mature foxes die sud- 

 denly and no satisfactory cause of death can be found, even though 

 post-morten examinations have been carefully performed by qualified 

 operators. The proportion of deaths, however, is low, only four being 

 reported in Prince Edward Island in 1912, and a like proportion in 

 1913 though probably more took place. 



In most cases, lack of success may be attributed to an inexpe- 

 rienced keeper. When men who have never fed even a horse or cow, 

 attempt to rear foxes, they may keep them alive, and may rear a 

 few young, but the probability of failure is great. The failures are 

 usually made in feeding to maintain good breeding condition, and in 

 the care and feedmg at the critical period of whelping and rearing the 

 young. The keeper's own character and disposition will have much 

 to do with the success with shy and nervous foxes at this period. A 

 good manager is always studying his animals at the breeding season 

 and he carefully notes the dates of mating and whelping. He treats 

 each pair according to their dispositions. In some cases, he separates 

 the male and female before whelping and, in other cases, he leaves 

 them together. He must be observant, resourceful and faithful, for 

 he is dealing with animals which have had only several generations 

 of domestic breeding or possibly none at all. 



The critical period of each year in breeding foxes is 

 GestJfio^n *^ between the dates January 1 and June 30. At this 



time, as the wild nature of some of the foxes renders 

 them exceedingly sensitive to strange sights, noises and smells, all 

 ranches are closed to every one but the keepers. All domestic animals 

 are kept at a distance from even the outer fence. Strangers are warned 



