94 FOXES AT HOME. 



a mangy fox, of any sort, even a vixen with 

 cubs, however sHghtly tainted, a chance. 

 Kill them at oiice^ destroy the litter and the 

 earth, no matter how disIncHned to do so, 

 otherwise you are only putting off the evil 

 day and giving them an opportunity mean- 

 while of infecting others, and perhaps doing 

 an irreparable amount of damage. And the 

 worst of it is, the cubs of a mangy vixen 

 drop off just when you want them for 

 cubhunting, and it is then too late to 

 substitute turned-down foxes instead. I can 

 speak feelingly on this matter, as I had a 

 bitter experience for a year or two, until I 

 hardened my heart, shot the mangy vixens 

 on the earth, killed the cubs, although the 

 poor little things looked perfectly healthy at 

 the time, and destroyed every earth that 

 could by any possibility be infected. By 

 this means I entirely got rid of mange on 

 ground which had for years been notorious 

 for its unhealthy foxes, so that for the last 

 seven or eight years there have been nothing 

 but beautiful healthy litters, where once two 

 out of every three, if not the whole three, 

 were infected. 



