FOXES AWLr WHAT WE KNOW OF THEM 



BY DR. R. W. SHUFELDT, C. M. Z. S., 



MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAMMALOGISTS 



VARIOUS kinds of foxes are found in the Old 

 World ; but as a matter of fact, in no quarter of 

 the globe are they better represented than in North 

 America. And of all the mammals that have been talked 

 and written about, no single group has received one-tenth 

 part the attention that foxes have. Apart from the tales of 

 tradition, the history of foxes dates back to the day when 

 printing presses first came into use when history came 

 to be a matter of printed record and today the volumes 

 devoted to this family would form a very extensive 

 library. Sever- 

 al hundred 

 books have 

 been written 

 upon the sub- 

 ject of fox 

 hunting in 

 Great Britain 

 alone, and a 

 similar litera- 

 ture is now 

 coming into 

 being in this 

 country. Foxes 

 have figured in 

 the fables of 

 every race of 

 men on earth 

 since the dawn 

 of history, and 

 even at the 

 present writing 

 they continue 

 to be rung in 

 by writers of 

 every ilk in 

 exemplification of all that is cunning, shrewd, sly, and 

 artful in the ways of men and all other mammals. "Sly 

 and cunning as a fox" is an expression common to the 

 language of our race the world over. For example, 

 take what the fox did out of the fables of ^isop and 

 other writers of fables, and their works would be robbed 

 of four-fifths their interest. 



These animals are, as an independent group, very dis- 

 tinct from the dogs, wolves, and jackals, and in general 

 characterized by light, though well knit frames, erect 

 ears, markedly pointed muzzles, and eyes of which the 

 pupils contract to mere slit-like apertures in the day- 

 time much as we see it in the cats. The fur of a fox 

 is very thick and its tail bushy. In some species the 

 pelts are of great value commercially, and in all cases 

 they are of more or less worth. In some the fur is almost 



CUBS OF THE COMMON FOX 



Figure 1. They are usually born early in the spring, being reared principally upon young rabbits, 

 which are produced in numbers at the same season. This is a copied photograph by the writer after 

 C. Reid, who obtained several negatives of this group. 



black, in others white, and in still others silvery, a light 

 red, gray, or brown. 



We find large foxes in certain parts of Asia that are 

 of a yellowish-red color the Chinese and Japanese 

 species being a light red while in India we meet with 

 the Bengal fox and the small species known as the 

 Desert fox. The latter feeds upon grapes, and may 

 have been the one responsible for the fable of the "Fox 

 and the Grapes," though some say that it refers to 

 those extraordinary little big-eared foxes of Africa called 



Fennecs that 

 also eat grapes. 

 The Fennecs 

 are very ele- 

 gant little crea- 

 tures, one of 

 them measur- 

 ing only nine 

 inches in 

 length ; their 

 hearing is said 

 to be most 

 acute. The 

 common fox 

 (Vulpes vulga- 

 ris) of Europe 

 is too well 

 known to re- 

 quire any spe- 

 c i a 1 descrip- 

 tion ; it has 

 figured in his- 

 tory ever since 

 printing came 

 into vogue, and 

 is a remarkable 

 animal, occurring not only in Europe but in Asia and 

 Africa as well. 



Coming to the foxes of North America, not a little 

 has likewise been written about them ; but we have yet 

 a great deal to learn about their anatomy and habits. 

 Zoologists have, as a rule, divided them into two. genera 

 Vulpes and Urocyon. The true foxes are characterized 

 by rather short bodies, short legs, and long tails that 

 are bushy and more than half the length of the body. 

 Their fur is long and soft; their erect ears of moderate 

 length, while the muzzle is elongate and tapering. 



Up to a few years ago there were some eight species 

 recognized by zoologists; these are distributed over 

 various regions of North America, Harriman's fox being 

 found on Kadiak Island, Alaska; the common American 

 fox from Canada to Georgia, westward to the plains. The 



673 



