THE HII.I. FOX 



increase the stamina of his low-country relatives ; 

 but the importation of foreign foxes, carried in 

 filthy crates and boxes, is like asking for an out- 

 break of mange. 



Apropos of taking foxes alive for re-stocking 

 purposes, one of the most ingenious methods is 

 by the use of a stone trap or enclosure, known 

 locally as a " kist." When a fox has been 

 tracked into a den, all the outlets but one are 

 blocked up. In front of this outlet, a small 

 stone enclosure is constructed, roofed with slabs 

 of rock. Just in front of the mouth of the den, 

 a wooden, or sometimes an iron, slide is fixed. 

 This is attached to a string which passes over a 

 stick placed across the centre of the trap, at such 

 a height that when the string is pulled, the slide 

 rises and permits free access to the interior of the 

 trap from the mouth of the earth. When the 

 front end of the trap is built, a narrow slit is left 

 in it, of sufficient width to accommodate an 

 ordinary wooden bobbin. To this bobbin the 

 string on the slide-door is made fast, the length 

 of cord being such that when it is pulled tight, 

 and the bobbin is lightly jammed into the crack, 

 the slide is clear of the entrance to the trap. 



When all is quiet, the fox leaves the den and 

 finds himself in the walled enclosure. Seeing 

 light through the crack at the far end, he at once 

 investigates, and in scratching to get out dis- 

 places the bobbin which flies up and allows the 

 slide-door to fall. Reynard is then a prisoner 

 until the keeper arrives in the morning with a 

 sack for his removal. There are various other 

 methods of bringing foxes to hand, with steel 

 traps, and poison. Sometimes a bait is used, this 

 being partially buried beneath wood ashes or 



75 



