FOXES 103 



Each set of pipes should be about forty-five 

 yards, including to and from the box. Such a 

 length deters a wandering dog from investigating 

 the vulpine sanctuary. Sanitary pipes should be 

 used about eleven inches in diameter : a fox is 

 then obliged to go outside for the wants of nature, 

 instead of staying inside if the weather is stormy, 

 and defiling the pipes. They should be laid with 

 a dip in the middle, to prevent draught. 



The mouth of each pipe should terminate in a 

 strong wooden frame so contrived that an iron 

 grating can be dropped down from the top to 

 close the entrance, which will yet admit plenty 

 of air to a blown fox. 



The bottom of the grating should rest on wood 

 to prevent a fox from scratching out. Foxes also 

 prefer to enter over a wooden floor rather than 

 through a bare pipe. 



The last three or four feet should be laid level, 

 or if any slant is given it should be slightly 

 downwards, so that a fox can rest easily while 

 taking observations before leaving the earth. A 

 natural earth almost always takes this course. It 

 is a good plan to heap clay over the lid of the 

 box, to make it impervious to rain. 



The earth should be examined once a year in 

 the spring, when it will probably be untenanted 

 for a while, as a vixen usually goes elsewhere to 

 drop her cubs. Sometimes it may be found that 

 damp has got in, when steps must be imme- 

 diately taken to correct this, or the earth will be 

 deserted by foxes. Sometimes also a dead fox 

 may be found inside, that has met with some 

 disaster and has crawled here to die. As a rule, 

 however, if everything is normal, nothing will be 

 found except a few old dry bones, which are 



