126 FUR FACTS 



welcome it. When the keeper enters, they, of course, depart, leaving 

 him free to look into the inner den. He should not touch the cubs 

 unless they need attention. 



The young are small and weak at first, and their mother remains 

 with them almost constantly for the first three days. They grow 

 rapidly and usually begin to appear outside the den in about a month. 

 When 6 weeks old they eat more or less solid food. After this they 

 may be weaned. Many breeders leave the weaning entirely to the 

 vixen unless she is becoming emaciated. A decided advantage in 

 weaning cubs when they are 6 or 8 weeks old is that when the keeper 

 controls their food he can more easily eradicate the intestinal worms 

 which usually infest them. Care should be taken to keep early- 

 weaned cubs clean and dry. In case of accident to a mother fox, 

 cubs may be reared by cats almost from birth. Not more than two 

 cubs should be given to one cat. After they are about 3 weeks old 

 their teeth become large and sharp enough to lacerate their foster 

 mother, and they must be reared by hand. 



The taming and training of the foxes when pups tends to the 

 production of adult animals which are much more valuable for breed- 

 ing purposes. 



Behavior 



During the day, particularly in fine weather, foxes are generally 

 quiet, staying either in their dens or curled up among the branches 

 of a tree or upon a shady platform several feet above the ground, 

 whence they can see all that goes on around them. Late in the after- 

 noon they arouse and until morning engage in a variety of activities. 

 Sometimes they run and caper joyfully; sometimes when the soil is 

 soft and the yards are not floored they dig, although animals ac- 

 customed to captivity rarely show a determined effort to escape by 

 this means. When suddenly frightened they often attempt to escape 

 by climbing the fence. 



In the majority of fox yards the inmates skulk and hide whenever 

 anyone approaches, although ordinary travel along a thoroughfare 

 a hundred yards or more away gives then no apparent concern. All 

 moving objects interest them keenly. Birds alighting within their 

 yards often fall prey to their agility. Among themselves they are 

 generally at peace, but a flash of treachery is likely to be displayed 

 whenever one animal finds another at a disadvantage. One fox will 

 seize and mangle another's foot that has been carelessly placed on 

 the intervening fence, or will maim or kill a neighbor's cubs. 



