CHAPTER II 



THE EDUCATION OF THE FOX 



THE life of the fox is, and always has been, that of 

 both hunter and hunted. He has been an object of 

 pursuit by other animals and (at all periods since 

 they have existed on the earth together) by man. 

 Thus a fox is continually either seeking for and 

 pursuing his prey, or endeavouring to evade his 

 enemies. Of these the first probably occupies by far 

 the larger part of his time. Hunting is his life ; being 

 hunted, but an episode. For these two ends a fox is 

 educated by three teachers : Nature, his mother, and 

 his enemies. 



The foundations of his training are the instincts of 

 his race. There have been many theories put forward, 

 but the problem of instinct remains to be solved. It 

 is possible that what we call instincts, so far as they 

 are capable of adaptation by intelligence, are a kind 

 of tribal memory. The life of the lower animals is 

 short, and they have not the time to store up all the 



