154 FOXES AT HOME. 



earth for years and necessitates It being 

 done away with. A fox should not be able 

 to stand or sit up in the earth, but, at the 

 bifurcation of the holes (Fig. i) there should 

 be sufficient lateral space left, by rounding 

 off the angles, to enable it to turn round easily, 

 and this is where a fox usually curls up. 

 Should, it be necessary to make the hole 

 any wider, or deeper, let the foxes do so 

 themselves. 



The figures (p. 151) will show what I have 

 endeavoured to describe above, as far as the 

 construction of the earth goes, and the dimen- 

 sions of the actual hole, given in Fig. 3, are 

 taken from measurements of natural earths 

 made entirely by foxes themselves, and it is as 

 w^ell to stick as closely as possible to Nature, 

 artificial earths, as a rule, being made far too 

 large and roomy, which is a great mistake. 

 The actual mouth of the natural earth is, of 

 course, much larger, and the ground, as a rule, 

 sloping gently down into it. This should be 

 similarly arranged in the artificial earth. 



The flags or tiles forming the roof of the 

 earth should overlap the sides by ^ve or six 

 inches at least, otherwise, in light or gravelly 



