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VULPUS FULVUS, (DESMAREST). 

 THE FOX. 



Specific Character. Reddish yellow; black behind, grizzled with grayish. 

 Throat and narrow line on the belly, white. Ears behind and tips of caudal 

 hairs (except terminal brush) black. 



Habitat Arctic America to Northern United States. 



Average Size. Equal to a medium sized dog. 



Average Weight. 15 pounds. 



Average Height. 14 inches. 



Average Length. 40 inches; nose to tail, 26 inches ; tail, 14 inches. 



Value of Fur. Per skin, average 75c. to $1.00. 



The fox abounds in Ontario and is generally regarded as a downright 

 nuisance. 



To the farmer he is a pest, and as a destroyer of young game and game bird's 

 eggs, he is almost without a peer. 



The fox lives in a hole of his own making, and there the she-fox brings forth 

 her young in April, generally three to five at a litter. The cubs live on the fat 

 of the land if a hen roost is anywhere near at hand, for the mother is a successful 

 poacher and evades the farmers' gun and traps right warily. 



The skins are readily sold, and bring a fair price in the markets, but are all 

 exported to Russia and Germany. 



The fox is variable in the colour and marking of its fur ; some specimens being 

 of a pale yellow, some of a reddish fawn, and some^blackish in tinting. In nearly 

 every specimen there is a dark transverse strip over the shoulders, giving the 

 animal the appellation of a cross fox. 



The hair is long, silky and soft. Tail very full and composed of an under fur> 

 with long hair distributed uniformly among it, and having a white tip ; feet and 

 ears, black. 



The fox is crafty to a degree and unless taken at a disadvantage, generally 

 manages to elude its pursuers. 



The skin has a peculiar and offensive odour, and for this reason few foxes are? 

 tamed, although they are easily domesticated. 



