CHAP. vii. THE FOX. 109 



otter, the badger, the polecat, the stoat, the weasel, 

 the hedgehog, the rat, and almost the whole family 

 of mice. These are, for the most part, nocturnal in 

 their habits. No matter how dark or tempestuous 

 the night, they are constantly prowling about. 

 Even at the sea-shore, the otter, the weasel, and the 

 mice, often paid Edward a visit. When on the hills 

 or moors, he often saw the weasel, and sometimes 

 the fox ; but the fields and the sides of woods were 

 the places where they were most frequently met with. 

 All these animals, like the deer and hare, have their 

 peculiar and individual calls, which they utter at 

 night. 



Thus the Fox may be known by his bark, which re- 

 sembles that of a poodle dog, with a little of the yelp in 

 it ; and he repeats this at intervals varying from about 

 six to eighteen minutes between each. When sud- 

 denly surprised, the fox gives vent to a sharp harsh- 

 like growl, and shows and snaps his teeth. " I once," 

 says Edward, " put my walking-staff into the mouth 

 of a fox just roused from his lair for foxes do not 

 always live in holes to see how the fellow would 

 act. He worried the stick and took it away with 

 him. I have, on three different occasions, come upon 

 two foxes occupying the same lair at the same time 

 twice on the cliffs by the sea, and once among 

 the bushes in an old and disused quarry. In one 

 instance I came upon them in mid-winter, and in the 

 other two cases during summer." 



