IN THE FAR WEST. 367 



plicity of nature is, that man has long been a stranger to 

 them, though he is more familiar now, as some persons have 

 occupied the island as sheep ranges. 



These say that the creatures are perfectly harmless even 

 to lambs, but that would seem to be an open question, as it 

 does not look probable that they could have lost all their 

 carnivorous propensities by even an insect diet. They are so 

 numerous on the islands that a person may meet twenty of 

 them in an hour's walk, and on Santa Cruz Island, which has 

 an area of one hundred and fifty square miles, they are very 

 abundant. The skins of the adults are often lined inside 

 with cactus spines, which enter through the fur and become 

 arranged in layers; and so thick are they frequently that 

 a knife-blade cannot be inserted between them. Some become 

 soft and flexible from age, but others are as stiff and hard as 

 if they were in full vigour on the plants. 



This species whelps in early summer, and brings forth its 

 young in a rocky crevice or a simple burrow, the family being 

 generally large. The males range from thirteen to seventeen 

 inches in length, and the tail and legs are equally small, the 

 latter being very weak. 



While the foxes of the West do not afford sport as their 

 European kindred do, yet they form no small part of the wealth 

 of the country, as their skins bring good prices, and many 

 thousands are sold annually by the trappers and hunters. If 

 their total value was placed at 1,000,000 dollars per year, it 

 would not, I think, be overstating the matter. 



