98 FOXES AT HOME. 



soon as I could get hold of them !) I had the 

 traps removed. She shifted the cubs immedi- 

 ately, and, as we could not find out where to, 

 we feared she had moved right away and given 

 us the slip for good, since vixens, when they 

 get a good fright, will sometimes remove their 

 cubs to a very considerable distance. 



Whilst the traps were set at this earth I 

 went to look at the other litter, which was 

 about three-quarters of a mile distant from 

 the first, and when the vixen appeared, 

 although her brush did not look very grand, 

 still her body appeared quite healthy. I was 

 just thanking my stars that one litter at any 

 rate was all right when she turned round the 

 other side, and to my horror there was a huge 

 bare patch on her ribs, the mark of the leper ! 

 which there was no mistaking ! Oh, dear ! Oh, 

 dear ! What cruel luck ! Now ladies can give 

 vent to their feelings in tears, and a fit of 

 hysterics comes in useful at times, to clear the 

 atmosphere as it were, but what can a poor man 

 do but swear, and surely this was enough to 

 make even a saint swear ! The thought of having 

 to get rid of the only two litters one had got, to 

 destroy all the earths, and to have to turn down 



