MAMMALS OF PENNSYLVANIA AND NEW JERSEY. 143 



Family CANIDAE : Wolves, Foxes, Dogs. 



Genus Urocyon Baird, Mammals of North America, 1857, p. 121. 

 Northeastern Gray Fox. Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Schreber). 



1775. Cam's cinereoargenteus Schreber, Saugthiere, vol. 3, plate 92. 

 1894. Urocyon cinereoargenteus Rhoads, American Naturalist, vol. 28, p. 



524. 



Type locality. Eastern North America. 



fauna! distribution. Transition and austral zones ; Atlantic Ocean to 

 Lake Michigan and the Great Plains. 



Distribution in Pa. and N. y. Since the deforesting of the Canadian 

 zone in Pa. no county, nor perhaps any territory of considerable extent in 

 either state, is a stranger to it. It was formerly almost unknown in many 

 parts of the higher northern Alleghanies of Pa. It is generally more abund- 

 ant in the lowlands, decreasing, or giving place to the red fox, in the high- 

 lands. 



Records in Pa. Summarizing the reports made from all parts of the state 

 to Dr. Warren and myself, the present status of the gray fox in Pa. may thus 

 be stated : None seem to be found in Chester, Delaware and Montgomery 

 Cos. or in Washington Co., in localities where they would naturally be looked 

 for. The red fox is the only kind found in these counties. It is possible 

 that these unnatural conditions are due to the efforts of fox hunting clubs, 

 which detest the gray fox and encourage the propagation of the red species. 

 In the northern counties where the climatic conditions are most Canadian 

 the gray fox constitutes only five to ten per cent, of the whole number on 

 which bounties were formerly paid. In Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Lan- 

 caster, and other counties, lying on the eastern slopes of the Blue Ridge and 

 South Mountain, the grays begin to predominate. Both red and gray foxes 

 were noted as being found by Taylor in Lycoming, Tioga and Sullivan Cos. 

 in 1834, when that country was almost unbroken wilderness. 



Records in N.J. The gray is the predominant form in the greater part of 

 N. J., being very abundant in certain sections of the southern half. In the 

 northern counties the reds and grays are about equal in numbers. 



Habits, etc. The differing characters of the two species of fox found in 

 our limits may be expressed in the words used by Dr. Warren : " The red fox 

 is a sly, bold robber, but the gray fox is a cowardly, skulking sneak thief." 

 The two have their counterparts in the timber and prairie wolves. When 

 hounded the gray does not run long distances, but seeks a thick cover and 

 dodges about it like a rabbit, soon taking to a tree or hole in the rocks. In 

 climbing, it shows strange affinity to the cats, not only leaping from limb to 



