CARNIVORA THE FOX 



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Fissipedia. 



i. The Common Fox (Canis vulpes). Every one is familiar with some 

 facts about this mammal, even though not every one has seen it. Its average 

 length is 3 feet, though I have seen specimens larger ; and it is so great an enemy 

 to farmers, in its propensity for killing chickens, lambs, geese, pheasants, and 

 other creatures, that it would long ago have become extinct but for its pres- 

 ervation for the sake of the " noble sport " of fox hunting. The fox is perhaps 

 the most cunning of our country's wild animals, and whilst, on the one hand, 

 he often kills for the pure sake of killing I have known the whole of a poor 



Fox Cubs at play. 



man's fowl shed to be destroyed in a night and left by the fox on the other 

 hand, he will leave a wild duck undisturbed on her nest until the eggs are 

 almost hatched, in order that he may make a meal of the mother and the 

 young ducklings at once. Foxes are really very beautifully marked creatures, 

 with their white cheeks and throat, the generally light-coloured waistcoat, 

 and orange-red back and sides, ornamented black on the feet, ears, and 

 muzzle. The tail also is reddish, with black fringe and a white tip. Being a 

 nocturnal animal (though it sometimes hunts by day), its eyes are very large, 

 and there is a curious characteristic of the pupil, which, instead of narrowing 

 under strong light to a round spot as all " dogs' " eyes should becomes a 

 slit, as does the cat's. 



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