THE BRITISH RED FOX 



night's trail of a fox be carefully followed, the 

 tracker can hardly fail to learn something con- 

 cerning the author of the foot-prints. 



There are comparatively few people I imagine 

 who can tell the difference between the tracks 

 of a fox and those of a small dog whose feet are 

 no larger than the fox's. There is a difference 

 however, which is shown in the stride of the 

 fox being much longer than that of the small 

 dog. In deep, dry snow, the marks where the 

 brush of the fox has dragged are often plainly 

 visible. Some foxes walk in a more slovenly 

 manner than others, and the dragging of the feet 

 is likewise shown when snow is on the ground. 

 The foot of the fox makes a neat, clean impression 

 in thin snow or mud, showing clearly the imprints 

 of the four claws. When two foxes are travelling 

 together, they always leave separate trails. In 

 this they differ from wolves, a party of which 

 may travel for several hundred yards, leaving a 

 trail as if only a single animal had passed that 

 way. This habit, on one occasion that I wot of, 

 nearly led to the undoing of a hunter who tracked 

 what he thought was a single wolf into a narrow 

 ravine from which there was no outlet. He was 

 promptly attacked by half a dozen wolves, four 

 of which he killed after a pretty strenuous en- 

 counter. 



In build, the fox is admirably constructed for 

 the life he leads. Although he is a small animal, 

 standing from I5ins. to i6ins. at the shoulder, he 

 is remarkably fast, and very active. Although 

 not such a good climber as the American grey fox, 

 he can nevertheless get about in some very awk- 

 ward places at a considerable height from the 

 ground. In crags and cliffs he is entirely at home, 

 and is often found living on the sea-cliffs, from 



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