72 FOX-HUNTING 



fox-earths clean and making fresh ones. I 

 believe a foul earth is one of the causes that 

 either originate mange or help to develop it. I 

 should be very sorry if any one should think 

 I had shown just cause for the badger's extermina- 

 tion ; but I do consider they ought occasionally 

 to have their numbers reduced. 



I seem somehow to have wandered away from 

 our original theme, the fox ; but now, with your 

 permission, I will begin at the beginning, and 

 consider the animal from his birth upwards. The 

 vixen goes with young nine weeks, and the middle 

 of March is the usual time for cubs to be dropped. 

 Although the vixen is by no means faithful to one 

 husband, she generally shows a preference for 

 one, and he it is who helps to find food for the 

 family. Unfortunately, the dog-fox is sometimes 

 killed in the last few days of the season, and it 

 is then a hard task for the mother keeping the 

 larder filled for herself and the family. In that 

 case the cubs never thrive properly, are ever 

 ready to break out with mange, and the poor 

 vixen will boldly seize either hens or lambs in the 

 daytime. This, of course, annoys the farmer, 

 and swells the bill for compensation. It is the 



