FOXES AND RABBITS IN THE SAME EARTH 17 



It is by no means an uncommon occurrence to 

 find foxes and rabbits inhabiting different parts 

 of the same earth. Our vulpine friend, ever alive 

 to his own interests, is by no means averse to 

 taking up his quarters in a rabbit-hole. Such 

 an arrangement suits his convenience admirably, 

 for not only is he thus spared the trouble of 

 digging out a house for himself, but the require- 

 ments of the family larder, where rabbits are 

 plentiful, can be supplied with the smallest amount 

 of trouble. 



As the number of rabbits which a single fox 

 is capable of consuming annually is very con- 

 siderable, it might reasonably be supposed that 

 the rabbits should object to occupy quarters in such 

 close proximity to their natural foes. Fortunately 

 for them, however, with a perversity which is 

 apparently common to man and foxes alike, the 

 latter seem to desire what they have not got in 

 preference to such things as they possess, and 

 so it comes to pass that the neighbouring coverts 

 offer greater attractions for them than those in 

 which they reside, and it may be that the sport 

 afforded by their ' home coverts ' lacks the charm 

 which surrounds a more indiscriminate system of 

 poaching. 



It is a pretty sight to watch a litter of fox- 

 cubs playing about in the summer evenings such 

 soft, woolly little animals, full of life and mischief. 

 There were two such happy families within a 

 couple of hundred yards of each other last summer 



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