24 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



seen a red vixen in that locality and it was reported one winter that 

 a silver fox was seen running with her. The following July (1900), 

 Louis Holland and Louis Spence found the den and proceeded to dig 

 the young foxes out. They found four blacks and three reds, which they 

 sold to Charles Dalton for $300. 



Many other instances show that litters frequently occur in nature 

 as described above — half of the litter silver and half of it red. One red 

 female ranched in Nova Scotia and mated to a silver fox has produced 

 fourteen pups in the years 1910, 1911 and 1912. Seven of the pups are 

 red and seven silver. 



Most of the fox-breederg in other provinces have sold silver and 

 dark silver stock to Prince Edward Island, where the demand has been 

 greatest. Probably in all the dozen or more ranches in Ontario there are 

 not two score silver foxes. The stock kept are bastard and cross foxes 

 that produce litters with a proportion of silver pups. As their ex- 

 perience in selling fur has not led them to believe the present high prices 

 for breeders in the Maritime Provinces are warranted by the pelt value 

 of the animals, the attitude of Ontario ranchers has, in general, been 

 to sell out at the high prices offered. 



Because of continued importations of foreign stock into Prince 

 Edward Island, probably thirty or forty per cent, of the silver foxes 

 have been crossed with outside stock. In the majority of cases, the fur 

 value has been lessened though, possibly, the crosses in some cases result 

 in an improvement in size, fecundity, or other valuable quality. 



Tlie appearance of many of the imported foxes examined would 

 seem to warrant the conclusion that they are usually of a much lower 

 fur value, especially those from Newfoundland (sub-species F. f^eZeim*), 

 whose pelts almost uniformly have a rusty-black appearance and are 

 coarse and ' flaky.' The Quebec and Labrador foxes (sub-species V. 

 hang si) are much superior to those from Newfoundland. The Ontario 

 foxes (sub-species V. fulvus) are secured from so many distant points 

 that it is impossible to make a positive statement respecting their qual- 

 ity. Some of them appear to be first class and will prove to be excellent 

 foundation stock for selective breeding for fur. 



Eur experts who have given special study to the fauna of Canada 

 say that the red and silver foxes found on the Athabaska river and in 

 the Yukon and Alaska are often of great value. These regions should 

 produce a weighty pelt and, if good quality were secured in foundation 

 stock, conditions for fox ranching should be ideal — especially if venison 

 and fish could be easily secured for food. 



