THIRTY TEAKS A HUNTER. 191 



ment, and when hotly pursued, will ascend any tree 

 that leans. I have killed foxes which I supposed to 

 be a cross between the black and the silver grey. 

 The silver grey is also very shy, and in size it is 

 between the black and the red. They subsist upon 

 squirrels, rabbits, mice and fish. The red fox is 

 smaller and more numerous than either of the other 

 varieties. Though they are not as shy as the other 

 kinds, they still possess so much cunning that it is 

 very difficult to catch them. The most successful 

 manner of taking them is to track them to their holes 

 when there is a light snow on the ground, and set 

 traps covered with straw, near the entrance. The 

 snow falling soon covered both trap and straw, when 

 the foxes, not suspecting danger, would step into 

 the trap and be caught. Another manner of trapping 

 them is to set a trap in a spring which they frequent, 

 and attach the bait to sticks which are set in the 

 water beyond the traps, and as the fox attempts to 

 reach it, he steps into the trap. After his visits to 

 the farmyards, the fox strikes a direct course for 

 his hole, and a person by secreting himself near the 

 path, can shoot them as they pass. They breed in 

 the same manner as dogs, the litters numbering from 

 three to six. They rear their young in holes which 

 they dig in the ground. Young foxes are easily 

 tamed, and will remain around the premises until the 

 season for mating, when they generally go to the 

 woods, and often remain. Red foxes generally stay 

 near the settlements, preferring to live in white ash 

 or chestnut woods, near water. I never saw a young 



