50 THE FOX. 



far northern varieties, his coat would be the apparel 

 of kings. 



SCENT. 



When foxes are reared in captivity in a hunting 

 country, the tails of the vixens are often docked 

 before the animals are liberated, so that hounds 

 will have difficulty in following their scent-trail, 

 and they will thus survive to breed and multiply. 

 Whence comes this mysterious scent which hounds 

 so easily follow ? Not actually from the tail, but 

 from the musk-glands which are situated at the 

 root of the tail. All animals have these glands, 

 though in some they are more highly developed 

 than in others. In the weasel and the polecat 

 they are well developed hence the unpleasant 

 saying, ' Stink like a polecat ; ' while in the skunk 

 they reach the zenith of obnoxious perfection, this 

 animal being able actually to eject the musk as a 

 means of self-defence, and a very effective means, 

 too ! By docking a fox's tail the scent is not so 

 readily led to the ground, and the animal is 

 difficult for hounds to follow. 



As is the case with all highly intelligent animals, 

 foxes are much attached to their young. Fox- 

 farming is now a well-established industry, and on 

 these farms foxes are reared in captivity for their 

 pelts, the original stock being taken young from 

 their dens in the north. Enormous prices are paid 

 for live black and silver vixens, to be kept for 

 breeding purposes, and some of the professional 

 hunters of the north are not particular as to the 

 means they adopt in hunting. They have been 

 quick to realise the devoted motherhood of the 

 vixen, and to profit by it. It is almost impossible 

 to locate a litter of foxes by tracking down the 



