CUBS 



invariably held their masks low, with the nose 

 pointing slightly towards the ground, and so 

 marked was this habit, that there is sound reason 

 to suppose that wild foxes adopt the same attitude. 

 Although I have heard foxes barking on scores 

 of occasions, I have never been fortunate enough 

 to see a wild fox in the act. 



Although a captive fox trusts no one but the 

 master or mistress who feeds and looks after him, 

 he generally appears to make friends with the 

 cats and dogs about the place. A three-year-old 

 fox, which I secured as a tiny cub, was on quite 

 friendly terms with a terrier. The latter was 

 regularly used for bolting wild foxes, but never 

 appeared to show the least animosity towards the 

 tame fox. This fox died suddenly, after — as far 

 as could be ascertained — scratching himself with 

 a rusty nail when galloping round the stable in 

 which he was kept. I think wild animals in 

 captivity are apt to suffer severely from com- 

 paratively trifling accidents, whereas in a wild 

 state they easily recover from much more serious 

 mishaps. 



A pet fox is seldom of any actual use to his 

 master, except in the way of killing rats and 

 mice in granaries or wherever else he happens to 

 be confined. Some years ago I remember seeing 

 a photograph in one of the daily papers, showing 

 a rat-catcher accompanied by his terriers and a 

 tame fox. The latter was said to exhibit great 

 aptitude for killing rats when bolted by the 

 ferrets. 



In the days when duck-decoys were in regular 

 use, a tame fox was sometimes used to draw the 

 fowl, by showing the animal at the openings in the 

 screens. A reddish coloured dog was however 



41 



