CUBDOM. 45 



vixen dead close to his house, which he feared 

 had eaten poison he had put down for rats, 

 and he let us know at once so that we might 

 save the cubs. A dire calamity this was, as it 

 was the only litter w^e had ; litters that year 

 being few and far between. The keeper went 

 at once and recognised the vixen, and returned 

 by the earth, where there was no food of any 

 description. He went again at daybreak to 

 try and see the cubs, and found eight small 

 rabbits and a leveret at the earth, which had 

 evidently been brought up by the dog fox during 

 the night. The cubs were, however, too small 

 to eat them, and the second day after the death 

 of the vixen w^e found five tiny sooty balls of fur 

 nestling in the sun on the dead rabbits, trying 

 to keep warm, and almost dead with cold and 

 hunger. We immediately got some milk in a 

 saucer and put it at the mouth of the earth, and 

 also cut up some pieces of fresh rabbit for them. 

 The five crawled back into the earth, but only 

 three appea*-ed again, and these eventually grew 

 up fine healthy, strong foxes, and gave good 

 sport, though, of course, not knowing the lie of 

 the land as well as if the vixen had lived to 

 show them the country. 



