FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 23 



at any time a red fox may appear among the other silvers in a litter. 

 Few cases of red or cross pups among litters of silver pups were re- 

 corded, and no absolutely reliable evidence that any were found was 

 submitted; but the general opinion seemed to favour the statement that 

 an occasional red pup appeared. Any breeder of silvers who had such 

 impure foxes in his pens would be likely to conceal the fact by killing 

 or removing the red pups. Silver foxes can be produced of good silver 

 colour by top-crossing cross foxes with silver for several generations, 

 and, if the silver foxes used in the crossing had ancestors of cross foxes, 

 the probability is that a proportion of red, bastard, and cross foxes 

 would appear among their offspring. All evidence tends to show, how- 

 ever, that very few, if any, with red colour on them are produced, and 

 it is clearly demonstrated that the blackness of foxes can be made prac- 

 tically permanent by top-crossing to silvers. After mixing up red, cross, 

 and silver foxes for several generations it is practically impossible to 

 estimate the kind of pups that will come. Litters were seen that had 

 red pups, cross pups and silver pups in them. 



Beyond a doubt, the finest foxes in captivity are the 

 If]!.»^^cl^ o descendants of foxes captured in Prince Edward Island. 



r urred roxes ^ 



The best foxes, therefore, belong to the geographical 

 species, vulpes rubricosa; or, what is affirmed — and is not impossible — 

 the Prince Edward Island fox, because it has been cut off from the 

 mainland, is a distinct sub-species or geographical race. No cranial 

 and other measurementsi have yet been secured. If scientists admit the 

 fact of its difference from the mainland species, a new name, vulpes 

 ahegiveit, could be chosen — Abegweit being the Micmac Indian name for 

 Prince Edward Island. 



As London sales show that silver and red foxes from Prince Ed- 

 ward Island have been sold for the highest prices, the evidence seems to 

 bear out the assumption of its superiority. Red foxes have, in some 

 cases, sold for 80 shillings. Twenty-three red fox skins from Prince 

 Edward Island, marketed in London in 1910, by one man, were sold 

 for £68 sterling, or an average of $14.39 each. Other vendors claimed 

 to have received as much as 88 shillings each, but no documentary proof 

 was produced. 



When black colour phases of such animals are captured, they are 

 usually of excellent quality in fineness and colour of coat. The ancestors 

 of the highest priced foxes were dug out of dens, as a general rule, 

 situated in Prince Edward Island. 



One instance of the capturing of wild foxes may be quoted, as the 

 silver blood procured on this occasion flows strong in the highest priced 

 animals of the present time. Two residents of Bedeque, P.E.I., had 



