FOXES FOXHOUNDS & FOX-HUNTING 



plan. Lemmings and sea-birds are plentiful 

 in summer, and these it kills, stuffing the carcasses 

 into crannies of the rocks, or burying them beneath 

 a thin covering of earth. It treats the eggs of 

 the sea-birds in the same manner. On the 

 approach of winter, this food supply freezes, and 

 keeps fresh, or at any rate fresh enough to suit a 

 fox's palate. The young of the Arctic fox are 

 born blind, and are covered with greyish-brown 

 fur. Some very large litters have been recorded 

 from time to time. At Winter Harbour, Melville 

 Island, in Lat. 70° north, no less than seventeen 

 were found in one litter. This fox is the only 

 member of the Canidse family which migrates. 



Turning from the frozen north to tropical and 

 sub-tropical lands, we find the desert and Indian 

 fox. The former is red, even more rufous than 

 our own red fox, and has a white tip to its brush. 

 It is about the size of the grey fox, measuring 

 some thirty-eight inches. The Indian fox is 

 smaller still, being only thirty-three inches over 

 all, and it has a black tip to the brush. 



In Central Asia, Russia, Siberia, and China, 

 the corsac fox makes its home. It is sandy- 

 coloured, with white underparts, and, as in the 

 case of the Indian fox, the brush-tip is black. 



The Indian fox leaves no scent, nor does it, or 

 the desert and corsac foxes, provide sport with 

 hounds. 



Considering that, with the exception of the 

 otter, the fox is the most widely distributed of the 

 carnivora, it is somewhat surprising that it has 

 managed to hold its own so successfully. It 

 no doubt owes its freedom from extermination 

 to the fact that it is extremely adaptable to 

 changes of food, cUmate, and surroundings. 



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