TRACKS IN THE SAND 49 



Foxes continue to be common in the Ipswich 

 dunes and furnish food for thought in their 

 tracks and actions. Their clean-cut footmarks 

 with the two long pointed toes extending out in 

 front are generally characteristic. In soft sand, 

 however, where the imprint is not clearly 

 marked, this feature is often lost and the print 

 appears as round as that of an ordinary dog. In 

 deep sand rarely, more often in deep snow, the fox 

 occasionally leaves a mark made by the slight 

 dragging of a foot. This mark is not made by 

 the tail, which, as far as my observation goes, is 

 always held tidily above the surface of the 

 ground. His beautiful brush would be sadly 

 worn if he allowed it to drag in the sand. 



With two of the habits of the fox, not before 

 referred to by me, I have become familiar in the 

 last few years. One of these is their habit of dig- 

 ging for water. The water level in the dunes 

 varies. In wet years all the deeper depression 

 ponds, and the water is stained brown from vege- 

 tation. In the depressions free from vegetation 

 the water is clear and green. As the spring and 

 summer advances the level of the water sinks, and 



