Smart Guy in Red 



by George Heinold . . . paintings by Charles Culver 



ALTHOUGH our toiling settlers didn't plan it that way, the first 

 strokes of their axes underwrote a domestic Marshall Plan 

 for the fox. Their efforts opened up forests with crop fields, 

 pasture lands, and orchards, creating the type of range ideally 

 suited to Reynard's needs. And plump rabbits and juicy mice, 

 food staples of the fox, increased with widespread agricultural 

 effort. 



If such high living added fat around Reynard's waistline, none 

 of it softened his brain. Unlike the ancient Romans, he shows no 

 evidence of decline and fall. 



216 



