140 WARWICKSHIRE HUNT. 



THE FOX. 



The superior instinct of the fox, in every country 

 where his powers and faculties have been fully called into 

 action, has excited notice and given rise to observation and 

 remark. It is in the means he employs to supply himself 

 with food, and the stratagems he adopts to elude his 

 enemies, that all his energies and cunning are called forth, 

 and displayed. 



The rapacity of the fox is unbounded. Some years 

 ago, Mr. R. Cattell, farmer, of Milverton, near Warwick, 

 obtained a cub when very young, and reared it, tame, in his 

 house. It was the pet of the children and servants, played 

 upon the hearth like a kitten, and came when called by 

 name. When a few months old, little reynard began to get 

 shy, and when any bustle occurred, or a stranger entered 

 the house, he crept under a dresser in the kitchen, and 

 remained there until he was gone ; but he did not attempt 

 to run away. One morning when the family got up, a flock 

 of geese, 13 or 14 in number, were found in the yard, dead. 

 Suspicion fell vipon the cade fox ; and on making enquiry, 

 Mr. Cattell found that he had been shut out all night, 

 and as soon as one of the servants opened the door, he came 

 into the house and immediately skulked under the dresser. 

 There he lay for some time, and neither calling nor the offer 

 of food could induce him to leave his retreat. He was at 

 length got out, and as no doubt remained that he had killed 

 the geese, Mr. Cattell took him into the homestead, gave 

 him two or three smart strokes with a light whip, and then 

 sent the ingratc off into the open cmmtry, to shift for 

 himself. 



