FUR-FARMING IN CANADA 35 



In the earlier days, the houses were of log8, barrels, or 

 of the Kennel boxes. Later, a small box was placed within a larger 

 one and the intervening space packed with sawdust or 

 chaff. An entrance was provided by a passageway constructed of 

 boards. The roof was made water-tight by a piece of sheet iron. Such 

 houses are still in use, but have the disadvantage of being easily robbed. 

 Mr. Burrowman and some other Ontario ranchers attempt to 

 imitate nature more closely by constructing solid one-pieoe cement dens 

 built mostly underground and in well-drained spots. They can be made 

 quite thief-proof, and, indeed, there is apparently no way for the 

 keeper to get access to the nest. In the ease of one den, at Bothwell, 

 Ont., it was only possible to crawl in by shovelling out the email 

 entrance used by the fox. 



The most generally approved houses are wooden constructions, 

 placed in the centre of each paddock. The interior consists of an inner 

 and an outer kennel, and the entrance for the foxes is through a 

 passageway of rectangular cross-section constructed with four boards. 

 The interior dimensions of. this passageway should be about 7^^ in. 

 by 10 in., and it should slope from the building down to within 6 

 inches of the ground. The entrance for the keeper is through a door 

 in the end, or else by means of a hinged roof. The door or hinged 

 roof is, of course, always kept locked. The house is usually made with 

 a floor area 3 feet by -i}^ feet, or slightly larger. The posts are about 

 3 feet high ; the walls are boarded, papered and shingled ; the floors are 

 double boarded with paper between; the roof is boarded, papered and 

 shingled and ventilation is provided by openings in both gables. All 

 parts that the foxes rub against are smoothed and sand-papered so as 

 not to injure the overhair. The building should be set on skids a foot otT 

 the ground so tliat the foxes cannot hide under it. 



. The inner kennel or nest is to be the home of the young 

 of the Nest foxes and must be large enough to prevent crowding and 

 small enough to l)c Avarmed by the body heat of the 

 animals. The usual size of the nest is about 18 in. long by 18 in. wide 

 by 20 in. in height, but some prefer to make them with floor dimensions 

 16 in. by 20 in. The entrance, 8 inches in diameter, is centred on one 

 side; the floor corners are filled up with a triangular piece of moulding; 

 three or four half-inch holes are bored in the roof to provide a slight 

 ventilation and the roof or cover of the nest can be lifted off so that the 

 manager can see into the nest when necessary. The nest is kept warm 

 by being packed about on all sides with some material of low thermal 

 conductivity. The best yet discovered are the ground cork in which 

 the Spanish Malaga grapes are packed, dry seaweed, sawdust, chaff 



