124 FUR FACTS 



cooked. All food for sick animals should be cooked to make it 

 more digestible and to free it from disease germs. 



Foxes should be fed regularly twice a day, morning and evening. 



This is especially important in hot weather, as whatever 

 is left from the first meal will spoil before time for the next. By 

 giving at each feeding only the proper quantity the injurious effects 

 of gorging can be avoided. Overfeeding is more dangerous 

 than underfeeding. 



Foxes that are to be slaughtered for their pelts are well fed 

 during the autumn months, as the finest skins usually come 

 from fat animals. Brood animals, on the other hand, are kept thin 

 throughout the summer and up to about the first of January, 

 when their rations are increased to prepare them for the breeding 

 season. 



Propagation 



Foxes mate in February or March. The mating season is often 

 revealed by a brownish discharge and may last anywhere from a 

 few hours to two or three days. The gestation period is about 51 

 days. The size of litters ranges from one to nine, the average being 

 about four. Each male remains faithful to the female of his choice 

 and is a splendid husband and father. During the first few days 

 after the cubs are born the mother remains in the den. Meanwhile 

 her mate brings her food and remains constantly in the vicinity to 

 apprise her by warning barks if an enemy approaches. Attempts 

 have been made by fox breeders to mate one male with several fe- 

 males in the same season, but, as a rule, the results have not been 

 encouraging. 



Males are removed from the breeding yards for a part of each year, 

 the length of their exile depending upon the relations of the pair. 

 If they are quarrelsome, it is best to separate them soon after the 

 female becomes pregnant. If, on the contrary, they agree and show 

 attachment to each other, it is wise to keep them together until the 

 cubs are four weeks old, but after that the male is likely to bite them 

 during scrambles for food at meal times. While sequestered, the 

 males are usually kept in small pens which may adjoin the breeding 

 yards, as shown in figures 13 and 14, or removed to a separate 

 inclosure, where they may be allowed to run together in a large 

 yard or confined in individual pens. Because of their inclination to 

 fight, individual pens are preferable. 



The productive period in foxes is about 10 years. Approxi- 

 mately 50 per cent of the females in domestication breed each year, 



