THE BRITISH RED EOX 



both she and her mate the dog fox, have to 

 supply the demands of their ever hungry offspring. 

 A vixen which is ill-nourished prior to the birth of 

 her cubs is in worse case after the latter are 

 brought into the world, and therefore such an 

 one, owing to her weak state, may be tempted to 

 take food near at hand, particularly should the 

 breeding earth lie in the vicinity of human 

 habitations. 



On the bare, open fells, the chief food supply 

 consists of beetles, frogs, mice, and occasional 

 carcasses of dead sheep. In order to capture 

 more substantial supplies in the shape of rabbits, 

 game, or poultry, the fox is compelled to travel 

 long distances to the low ground. Such journeys 

 are very trying to an ill-nourished vixen, though 

 easy enough for the dog fox ; therefore when the 

 young lambs begin to make their appearance, 

 the mother of cubs can hardly be blamed for 

 sneaking off with one occasionally. This habit 

 often leads to her final undoing however, for 

 directly such losses are noticed by the farmer, he 

 promptly sends for the hounds, or takes matters 

 into his own hands. Just before and after the 

 cubs are born, the dog fox constitutes himself 

 bread-winner to his wife and family. Should 

 the vixen meet with an untimely end, he will 

 continue to feed the cubs if they are old enough 

 to eat solid food. 



In order to economise labour, the fox has a 

 habit of neatly packing the creatures he kills, for 

 easy transport. Many instances of this habit 

 have been recorded from time to time. On one 

 occasion a woodcock was found near an earth, 

 with two young rabbits tucked under its wing. 

 A hen and several chickens were on another occasion 

 found to have been carried in like manner. Mr. 



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