Are Foxes Clever? 



SINCE time immemorial foxes have had a reputation for 

 cleverness bestowed upon them. In fairy-tales, fables, 

 poetry and general literature, Reynard has been de- 

 scribed as the possessor of super-intelligence. It takes 

 courage to probe such long-established theories or 

 beliefs. One feels timorous of even questioning such 

 an array of learned, artistic and universally-cherished 

 evidence. Nevertheless, it is debatable whether for the 

 one occasion on which cleverness saves a fox's life there 

 may not be ninety-nine others on which it is saved by 

 the interference of favourable circumstances. 



By placing the fox in a position of grave danger one 

 may examine the more easily whether circumstances or 

 cleverness plays the greater part in helping him to 

 extricate himself. From the moment a huntsman cheers 

 his pack of hounds into covert in search of a fox, that 

 fox is in deadly peril. Every huntsman strives to draw 

 his covert upwind, that is, with the wind blowing from 

 the covert towards his advancing hounds, so that if 

 there be a taint of fox in it, hounds will get the scent 

 immediately. A moving fox carries a very strong scent, 

 whereas the scent emitted by a sleeping fox is a weak 

 variety. Most animals of the wilds choose the most 

 comfortable sleeping quarters available. Not the least 



F \ (DI28o) 



