96 The Fox 



escape them can but command a certain respect from 

 his human pursuers, a respect which cannot be felt 

 for an animal like the opossum. 



In the shadowy depths of his mother's burrow, the 

 baby fox first opens his eyes upon a world in which 

 his part is to be a continual struggle; struggle not 

 only for daily sustenance, but a struggle to escape the 

 snares and pitfalls laid for him by his arch enemy 

 man. Among the fox kindred it is a survival of 

 the fittest, combined with a wonderful development 

 of hereditary habit, which has fostered, and in some 

 cases multiplied, their race. 



When pursued by a hound, the fox may deceive it 

 in several ways, such as doubling on his trail, walking 

 on fences, or wading in shallow water. The last ruse 

 is by far the most effective. Nevertheless the hunting 

 of the fox is most successfully accomplished by means 

 of the hound. In the Northern States the hunting 

 season begins in November; but the real sport comes 

 a little later, when the ground is covered with a light 

 snow, for then the hound can follow the trail more 

 easily. A trail must be fresh if a dog is to follow it 

 over the frozen ground with any degree of speed, 

 and on a ploughed field it is almost hopeless. 



Perhaps a few reminiscences of fox hunting will 

 serve, better than anything else, to give those unac- 



