THE POX 107 



season, each pair of foxes has its own territory, 

 from which they do not wander far, and on which 

 other foxes do not poach. 



Though for the greater part of the year the 

 fox is a silent creature, seldom giving vent to its 

 feelings, yet there is one time when it finds its 

 voice, namely in the winter when mating takes 

 place. On a quiet evening in December or January 

 you will hear the foxes calling. It is a peculiar 

 short, sharp bark that they give, but it is quite 

 unlike the bark of a dog, being just " Wough ! 

 wough ! ' then silence, the two barks being re- 

 peated after an interval of some seconds. I have 

 heard a fox barking from the same spot for half 

 an hour or more, but as a rule they bark as they 

 travel, you hear the call in one spot, and in a few 

 moments somewhat farther on, and so can tell the 

 course the fox is taking. The restless cur-dog 

 barking from some farmyard need never be confused 

 with a fox, for it barks steadily, continuing with 

 hardly a pause for fifteen or twenty minutes at 

 a time, but the fox never gives more than three 

 yaps together, and usually it is but two. Heard 

 close at hand the sound seems hardly a bark, 

 but appears to be a gasp, as if made by suddenly 

 expelling the breath. Heard unexpectedly in the 

 dark it is quite startling, but is not nearly so hair- 

 raising as the cry of the vixen, as will be presently 

 recounted. By the way, it is probable the vixen 

 barks as well as the dog-fox, but it is certainly the 

 latter whose yap we chiefly hear echoing through 

 the woods in December and January. Barking 



