CUBDOM. 53 



an earth in a very lonely part, close to some 

 thick cover, and found a small cub asleep, quite 

 five yards from the earth in the long grass ; he 

 was about the size of a rat, and I thought at 

 first he was dead and that something had 

 happened to the vixen. But, on picking him up, 

 he opened his little blue eyes and stared at me 

 with surprise when he found I wasn't his 

 mother ! I put the little chap back in the earth 

 and went in the evening to see if the vixen 

 would then turn up. She came all right and 

 went straight to where I had found the cub, and 

 searched all about for him before going to the 

 earth ; evidently she had found him lying about 

 before ! To-day he was out again basking in 

 the sun, but wide awake this time, and after 

 having a good look at me, when I came near 

 he toddled to the mouth of the hole, and rolled 

 down into it Out of sight, but presently he poked 

 his little head out of a different hole and had 

 another good stare. 



What strikes one with very small cubs is how 

 out of all proportion their heads are to the rest 

 of their body ; this cub's head being fully a 

 third of his whole body. 



As soon as the cubs are large enough to eat 



