THE FOX. 65 



show no desire to wander off into the whispering 

 quietude beyond ; but should one of them attempt 

 to do so, it is at once called back and severely 

 reprimanded. 



Mountain-foxes are more given to this custom 

 of instituting a ' home from home ' than are ' long 

 valley ' * foxes probably because they inhabit less 

 thickly peopled regions, and are, therefore, less 

 likely to be disturbed. Some keepers are of the 

 opinion that in the case of the true mountain- 

 foxes the vixen leads her cubs from the den as 

 soon as they are old enough to follow, and that 

 thereafter they do not return, making their home 

 in the heather. Occasionally a shepherd crossing 

 the hills will come across a fox 'yard' far out 

 in the open, no earth anywhere near, the yard 

 being betrayed from afar by the litter of feathers 

 and, alas ! lambs' wool. If the cubs are there, 

 they simply crouch in the heather, making little 

 or no attempt to escape, and a massacre follows, 

 the shepherd's dog giving short shrift to the 

 defenceless youngsters. It is surprising to how 

 great an extent the hatred of the fox is born 

 in these hardy dogs of the hills ; for generations 

 past they have shared, fang and nail, in their 

 masters' feud. 



The parents of the cubs are often very fearless 

 and cunning in their efforts to draw away any 

 intruder from the vicinity of the family. A friend 

 of mine rose early one morning in the hope of 

 catching a glimpse of a litter of young foxes he 

 knew to be located in a certain wood. As he 

 neared the spot where they were, stealing as 



* I use the term ' long valley ' to distinguish the wide, long valley 

 of the lower basin of a river from the upper or mountain valley. The 

 term is used in the East, and might conveniently be adopted by sports- 

 men and naturalists at home. H. M. B. 



W.A. 



