92 THE FOX. 



the wind favoring, call him within a few paces of you. 

 Secrete yourself behind the fence, or some other ob- 

 ject, and squeak as nearly like a mouse as possible. 

 Reynard will hear the sound at an incredible distance 

 Pricking up his ears, he gets the direction, and comes 

 trotting along as unsuspiciously as can be. I have 

 never had an opportunity to try the experiment, but 

 I know perfectly reliable persons who have. One 

 man, in the pasture getting his cows, called a fox 

 which was too busy mousing to get the first sight, 

 till it jumped upon the wall just over where he sat 

 secreted. Giving a loud whoop and jumping up at 

 the same time, the fox came as near being frightened 

 out of his skin as I suspect a fox ever was. 



In trapping for the fox, you get perhaps about as 

 much " fun " and as little fur, as in any trapping 

 amusement you can engage in. The one feeling that 

 ever seems present to the mind of Reynard, is sus- 

 picion. He does not need experience to teach him, 

 lut seems to know from the jump that there is such 

 u thing as a trap, and that a trap has a way of 

 grasping a fox's paw that is more frank than friendly. 

 Cornered in a hole or den, a trap can be set so that 

 the poor creature has the desperate alternative of 

 being caught or starve. He is generally caught, 

 though not till he has braved hunger for a good 

 many days. 



But to know all his cunning and shrewdness, bait 

 him in the field, or set your trap by some carcass 

 where he is wont to come. In some cases he wil^ 



