THE FOX AS A CAPTIVE 139 



Foxes require fur, feathers, and apparently some 

 insect and vegetable food, for it will be noted that 

 the tame foxes of which I have written above were 

 fed with considerable attention to variety. 



Fourthly. A lowered condition of health caused 

 by picking up poisoned rats, even when there is not 

 enough poison taken into the system to cause death, 

 or from being shot at and wounded. Several classes 

 of people, with or without murderous intent, if they 

 do not shoot foxes at least shoot at them. The 

 number of foxes so injured every year is very large. 

 The magnificent skin which I selected for description 

 belonged to a fox so shot at. The veteran first 

 whipper-in of the West Somerset told me that hounds 

 found this fox and he holloaed him away. The pack 

 ran the line for two fields and then threw up, when 

 Jack found the fox dead under a hedge. The late 

 Mr. Wilfred Marshall, who was then Master, sent the 

 body to Mr. Ell, of Dunster, for a post-mortem, and a 

 pellet was found in the lungs. No doubt directly 

 the fox began to run, haemorrhage set up and choked 

 him. Such injuries are, I believe, very frequent 

 causes of mange when they are not fatal. This 

 practice of shooting at foxes, with intent, perhaps, to 

 warn them off a particular place, is, I think, on the 

 increase. It will be found that where people are 



