CHAPTER XIII 



SMALL COUNTRY NEIGHBORS 



THERE is ample room for more complete life histories 

 of many small beasts that are common enough around our 

 country homes; and fortunately the need is now being 

 met by various good field naturalists. Just last summer, 

 in mid-July, 1907, I had an entirely novel experience 

 with foxes, which illustrates how bold naturally shy crea- 

 tures sometimes are after nightfall. Some of the boys and 

 I were camping for the night on the beach by the Sound, 

 under a clay bluff, having gone thither in the dory and 

 the two light rowing skiffs; it was about a quarter of a 

 mile from the place where we had seen the big red fox 

 four or five years previously. The fire burned all night, 

 and one or other of the party would now and then rise 

 and stand by it; nevertheless, two young foxes, evidently 

 cubs of the year, came round the fire, within plain sight, 

 half a dozen times. They were picking up scraps; two 

 or three times they came within ten yards of the fire. 

 They were very active, scampering up the bluffs; and 

 when in the bushes made a good deal of noise, whereas a 

 full-grown fox generally moves in silence even when in 

 dead brush. 



Small mammals, with the exception of squirrels, are 

 so much less conspicuous than birds, and indeed usually 

 pass their lives in such seclusion, that the ordinary ob- 



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