The Fox, 109 



into play — then he can give his cousin gray many 

 points in the game. 



The kit fox's range is restricted to Colorado, 

 Wyoming, and the Western Plains, and is much 

 too small to afford any sport in the chase, being 

 only twenty-five inches in laigth. He is a yel- 

 low gray, darker on the back, especially along the 

 line of the spine; the legs and under parts of the 

 body are lighter in color; he has a full, bushy 

 tail with white tip and a black spot on each side 

 of the muzzle. 



Foxes arrive at maturity at eighteen months, 

 live to be ten or twelve years old, and are gen- 

 erally free from fatal epidemics, though subject 

 to a mild form of distemper and a violent, malig- 

 nant form of mange. A fox in its naturally wild 

 state seldom, if ever, contracts mange except from 

 a captive fox that has been liberated, and one 

 such fox will quickly infect all the foxes in a 

 neighborhood. 



In captivity they have an unhealthy and un- 

 happy look, especially the red fox, which never 

 becomes tamed, being incapable of thorough do- 

 mestication. It is sometimes playful when raised 

 in captivity, but, like other savage animals, will 

 bite upon the least offense, and always retains his 

 suspicious disposition, languishing when deprived 

 of his liberty. After being full grown, they 

 seem to lack all sentiments resembling affection 

 as illustrated in the dog: are extremely nervous, 



