CHAPTER VIII. 



MANGY FOXES AND GAME. 



One mangy fox will do more towards making 

 shooting men detest foxes than a dozen clean and 

 healthy ones, for a fox afflicted in this way takes 

 risks and goes lengths to obtain food which the 

 others would not dare to venture. Besides, a 

 mangy fox indulges freely in that sort of destruc- 

 tion which is peculiarly hateful to a game preserver, 

 and the ruination of nests as long as they can be 

 found appears to be the chief aim of its existence. 

 Hunting men, in the interests of their own sport, 

 and for the sake of their shooting friends, should 

 •do their best to kill every fox displaying the 

 slightest sign of an attack of mange, for it will be 

 only a matter of time before the animal develops 

 into a perfect scourge. The greatest curse in 

 connection with a mangy fox is that its affliction 

 permits it little rest, and it is constantlv on the 

 hunt day and night. The destruction for which 

 it is responsible can hardly be realised except by 



