FOX-FARMING IN CA N A D A 57 



ever, the fox might not readily enter it unless a blanket was placed over 

 the box to darken it. The usual method of handling them is with gloved 

 hands and no instruments. 



When foxes are transported, they are put into a box which is lined 

 with meshed wire so that they cannot escape by gnawing their way out. 

 They can be kept without water or food for days, but are generally fed 

 water biscuits or a bone and are watered, a can being nailed on the in- 

 terior for that purpose. Express companies are obliged to feed them 

 if food is provided. 



When foxes are brought to their pens for the first time, they should 

 be liberated by making a small opening in the box and holding it up to 

 the entrance of the kennel. They will then enter their nest and, after 

 a minute's inspection, will come out into the pen. By this time, the 

 keeper can be away out of sight, and none, or very few, will attempt 

 to climb the wire or rush against it. If pens are provided with cover 

 and built in secluded woodland, the wildest foxes will not climb the 

 wire if the keeper is competent and no strangers are admitted. 



No foxes except a few old ones and culls were killed in 

 firFur^"''^ Prince Edward Island for their pelts in 1910, 1911, 1912 

 or 1913. The pelt of a fox becomes prime in November, but 

 is not as heavy then as in December. They are killed on Prince Edward 

 Island in the last week of December. A fox eight months old is said 

 to have as full and large a skin as an older one. Some breeders, how- 

 ever, disagree with this common opinion and say that one year and 

 eight months is the proper age for killing. 



The fox when young, has less silver than in the later years and this 

 is an advantage in the present market, silver skins being more common 

 than pure black. It is hardly necessary to remark that no fox should 

 be slaughtered without a careful examination of his coat, and, if it be 

 light and thin and the fox only a pup, he should be spared for a year 

 in order to improve his condition if possible. 



Considerable care should be taken against injury to the coat dur- 

 ing the months previous to killing. They should not be allowed to lie 

 on damp places and thus have the guard hair frozen into the ground 

 or snow and broken. Smooth, large passage ways should be provided. 

 Fleas or mange or other skin affections or parasites should be prevented 

 as they would induce scratching and thus wear off the hair on the 

 shoulders and hips. 



It is claimed that heavy feeding of nutritious laxative food like 

 molasses, patent food preparations, boiled barley or oats, will fatten the 

 fox and improve the gloss of its coat. Some of the costliest skins 

 marketed were taken off foxes with one quarter of an inch of fat over 



