144 ANECDOTES OF ANIMALS. 



even when as much tamed as he can be, he seems 

 to think he is going to be deceived and ill-treated. 

 Perhaps he judges of others by himself. He lives 

 very often in a burrow called an earth, belonging to 

 somebody else, for he has very lax morals concerning 

 property, and a great idea that right is established 

 by possession. If he should be caught and put in 

 confinement, he is very ferocious, or dies of ennui ; 

 but he is much too coy and clever to be easily en- 

 trapped. His cry is a sort of yelp, which, however, 

 he is much too cautious to utter when he is earning 

 his living. 



Occasionally the fox has been caught in a trap, and 

 there is the history of one who escaped and left one of 

 his fore-feet behind him. After a lapse of time his 

 trail was to be seen in various places, and was of course 

 easily recognised. This continued for two years, when 

 he was chased by Mr. St. John and easily killed. An- 

 other who was unearthed by the dogs, instead of run- 

 ning after the usual fashion of these beasts, turned 

 suddenly upon each dog that came up and jumped over 

 him. This could not last long, although it puzzled the 

 dogs very much ; he was taken, and then only was the 

 reason for his manoeuvre discovered by finding that he 

 had only three feet. . 



Mr. St. John relates the following history of the 

 cunning of a fox : i Just after it was daylight I saw 

 a large fox come very quietly along the edge of the 

 plantation. He looked with great care over the turf 

 wall into the field, and seemed to long very much to get 

 hold of some of the hares that were feeding in it, but 

 apparently knew that he had no chance of catching one 

 by dint of running. After considering a short time, he 



