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AMERICAN BED FOX. 



Canis fulvus. 

 French : Renard rouge. German : Rother Fuchs. 



The American Red Fox is rarely hunted for sport, 

 and is usually captured by trapping, for the sake of its 

 fur ; it is rather larger than the European variety, but 

 it is not such a robust animal, and has a somewhat 

 lanky appearance ; its legs are longer than in the 

 European animal, and are in most cases black ; the 

 belly is generally black, except among the Prairie and 

 Alaska Foxes. The tail is very bushy, of a lightish 

 brown colour, with longer black hair at the top ; the tip 

 of the tail is white ; the ears are black, and covered with 

 short, black, velvety fur ; the whiskers are black, and 

 the fur is much finer than in the European variety. 

 The female has six teats. 



The Red Fox is widely distributed in the Northern 

 Continent of North America ; it is not found in Louis- 

 iana, its most Southern range being probably North 

 Carolina, Tennessee, and Pennsylvania. In Virginia and 

 in the most Southern districts the American Red Fox 

 attains its deepest colouring, but its size is much smaller 

 than in the more Northern types ; the bellies are 

 generally black, but occasionally white. 



The Prairie or North-west Red Fox inhabits the more 

 Northern plain districts, such as Montana and Dakota, 

 in the United States, the Red River district, Manitoba, 

 and York Fort district of the Canadian Dominion. This' 

 variety is large, very light in colour, almost white ; the 

 belly is white, and the tail, as a rule, extremely bushy ; 



