40 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



New Brunswick and Quebec, laws have been passed making it an 

 offence punishable by a lieavy fine to approach near a fur ranch.* 



The keeper should move cautiously and quietly about the pens 

 when feeding. He should have a post of observation from which he 

 can see the pens and yet not be seen. A dark chamber with a hidden • 

 approach and a small window to look through may serve. From this 

 post an experienced breeder can ascertain when mating occurs. At the 

 earliest, whelping will take place fifty days after mating, though it may 

 be fifty-two days, or, in rare instances, fifty-three or fifty-four days, 

 especially with the first litter. Fifty-one days is the usual period of 

 gestation. 



If the keeper plans to remove the male, he should have the 

 Removing . . 



the Male pens built in such a manner that the male may be shut out 



(away from the female, though with only a fence or double 



wired fence intervening) without a suspicion on the part of the foxes 



of design in such a removal. The action of some breeders in entering 



the pen and catching the dog with tongs or catching box is universally 



condemned as very dangerous at this period. If the male is kept close 



by, he will watch and warn whenever he fears danger and, moreover, he 



takes an interest in the rearing of the young — frequently carrying his 



food along the fence, apparently with the intention of giving it to the 



female and the young. 



^ , . It is not usual for parent foxes to kill the young 



Calming . . ,, ^ o 



Excited Mothers intentionally, but, when they become nervous, they 



want to remove the pups to another place. A mother 



will frequently become greatly excited, and, dashing into her nest, will 



carry out the pups one by one and bury them in the snow or mud. 



Tliis frequently occurs and is the great fear of ranchers in the spring 



months. It is difficult to tell what to do in such an emergency, except 



to see that the foregoing preventive measures are taken. The measures 



suggested in the following paragraph have been successfully carried 



out in more than one instance. 



A crate of chickens or rabbits should be kept near at hand so that 

 if a mother carries her young about, a live chicken or rabbit may be 

 put into the pen to attract her attention and turn her from her im- 

 pulse of hiding the young elsewhere. One breeder says that he stopped 

 one mother with an egg which he threw in front of her from outside 

 the fence when she was carrying out her pups. 



Some ranchers, during the whelping season, always keep posted 

 regarding the whereabouts of at least one cat with young kittens. If the 



* See Appendix V. 



