Photographing a Wild Fox 115 



found that the others preferred different amusements 

 of a less fatiguing character. The motive of my in- 

 terest in the foxes being very different from that of 

 the farmer and his family, my enthusiasm was less 

 easily dispelled. I was bent, not on their destruction, 

 but on learning more of their habits and real life 

 how they cared for their young, and how they pro- 

 tected themselves from the many dangers that beset 

 them, and upon obtaining, if possible, some photo- 

 graphs of wild foxes. 



One day while in an old stump lot which sloped 

 south, I caught a glimpse of a large fox, as he dis- 

 appeared behind a knoll and then reappeared a 

 little farther on. He trotted leisurely across the open 

 pasture, never once turning his head or in any manner 

 indicating that he had seen me. He was not fifteen 

 rods away and would have been an easy shot, but I 

 would not have killed him for all the poultry in the 

 farmyard. 



I immediately seated myself by an old stump and 

 focused my field glass upon the beautiful animal. 

 This was no sooner done than the fox, which prob- 

 ably had been watching me all the time, sat down, 

 dog-fashion, and turned his gaze full upon me. For 

 ten minutes there seemed to be an equal fascination 

 between man and fox, and then a sudden change 



