8o THE FOX 



the abundance or scarcity of food. We often fail to 

 find foxes in favourite coverts simply because the 

 inhabitants are on some other part of their beat. 

 Take for example such coverts as Gartree Hill or 

 Ranksboro'. No one would doubt that everything 

 was done to preserve foxes, or that there are in fact 

 always foxes which make these famous coverts their 

 headquarters. Yet every now and then they are 

 drawn blank. It is not fair to assume that there has 

 been foul play if any covert under a hundred acres 

 is without a fox. Favourite places are much harried, 

 and huntsmen are not always careful enough not to 

 stain small coverts by killing foxes within their boun- 

 daries. The fox, of all animals, is the most ready to 

 learn by experience, and his keen nose warns him for 

 a long time that murder has been done on one of his 

 race. He therefore avoids the fatal spot. If, how- 

 ever, we draw a large extent of woodlands blank, it 

 is nearly certain that the keeper or owner is not 

 dealing fairly with the foxes. In suitable woodlands, 

 there ought generally to be foxes or some trace of 

 them. In addition to his kennel, in which the fox 

 lies up (some dry spot well sheltered where the 

 rays of the sun can penetrate), foxes, at all events 

 where they are much hunted, have a more secure 

 refuge at hand. To this shelter they resort when 



