68 THE FOX 



Instances have been known of whole countries 

 devastated by mange from one of the pestilential 

 pits often made use of by keepers. There are many 

 more of them than we suppose. In one case a well- 

 known hunting man was walking around with a friend. 

 They had visited the kennels and the pheasantries, when 

 he noticed an old hut. ' What is in there ? ' he asked. 

 1 Oh, nothing, only some things we do not want, 5 said 

 the host. Yet, as they passed, a most unmistakable 

 whiff of fox reached the nostrils of the hunting man. 

 Taking an opportunity, he slipped back and found 

 a whole litter of cubs under the floor of the hut in a 

 dark, foul little hole. It was a fine wild moorland 

 country, but what wonder that seven-and-twenty dead 

 foxes covered with mange were picked up in the 

 course of the next two seasons ! If this could happen 

 where, after all, the shooting did not amount to 

 very much, what must occur where pheasants are 

 reared by the thousand ? 



Another cause of mange is the habit indulged 

 in of peppering a fox with small shot to frighten him 

 off a particular beat. The fox may not, often does 

 not, die of the injuries, but the shock and the pellets 

 lodged under the skin set up conditions favourable to 

 mange. For mange there is no cure, but the disease 



