68 FOXES AT HOME. 



fifteen years; but In the present age, with his 

 numerous enemies, I much doubt if, in sporting 

 countries at any rate, many survive for even a 

 third of that period ! 



When the morning dawns on November ist 

 every " cub " becomes a " fox," and from 

 henceforth he has to fight the battle of Hfe, 

 trusting entirely to his own resources. 



I once had a brace of tiny vixen cubs sent me 

 by Joe Bowman, the huntsman of the Ullswater 

 Foxhounds, which he had been rearing on a fox- 

 terrier bitch. They arrived by parcel post in a 

 cigar box, and were about the size of rats. 

 They were too small, and I had to keep them 

 some time before turning them down. One had 

 a litter close by the following year, and the 

 other about a mile away. 



On another occasion a Scotch keeper sent 

 me some cubs, and put the hindquarters of the 

 vixen in the box for the poor little things to eat 

 on the way down! Scotch keepers loathe foxes ! 

 I returned him the cubs, much to his disgust,, 

 substituting a couple of rabbits for their food on 

 the return journey 1 



