130 FOXES AT HOME. 



might appear first and trembled for the con- 

 sequences, but she did not seem to mind the 

 ferrets much. Once I hung the ferret bag, 

 with a couple of ferrets in it, on the branch of a 

 fir tree about seven feet from the ground and 

 four or five from the bare stem, whilst I 

 worked a burrow close by with others. Kitty 

 heard the ferrets in the bag scratching and 

 kicking up a row, and having spotted it rushed 

 up the bare trunk, and, springing out, seized the 

 bag in her teeth, wrenched it off the branch, 

 and bolted with it at full speed, only being 

 forced to drop it after a stern chase of about a 

 hundred yards, w^hen the ferrets were recovered 

 unhurt. 



I have never noticed Kitty, or a wild fox for 

 that matter, ever attempt to catch anything 

 by stealth, or to approach closer to her prey by 

 crouching or crawling, like a cat would on a 

 bird. Whenever she saw a fowl or rabbit fifty 

 or sixty yards off she invariably went straight 

 for it, and before the wretched victim seemed 

 to realise what was the matter she was within 

 a stride or two and then escape was almost 

 impossible. 



Foxes are frequently represented in old prints 



