WOOL- AND FUR-BEARING ANIMALS 261 



keeper to the Earl of Clarendon, for valuable notes supplied by him 

 in regard to this sagacious beast. 



Naturally enough, Reynard, as he is generally known, is not 

 sought after by sportsmen for the sake of the fur, but on account of 

 the "sport" he affords, and it is because of this that in England he 

 is accorded so much protection. Outside the British Isles this Fox, 

 however, is sought after by trappers, and the beast is killed in large 

 numbers for its valuable skin. 



The period of gestation of the Fox is, roughly speaking, eight 

 weeks. Cubs may be expected any time between February 15 and 

 March .15, although I know two instances of cubs having been born 

 as early as the first week in January. This may, however, be con- 

 sidered exceptionally early, and a friend of mine once dug out a 

 vixen with a litter of five cubs not more than two or three days old 

 as late as April 17. The majority of cubs, no doubt, arrive during 

 March. 



Litters of five and six are the usual number, although I have 

 known as many as nine in one lot, and as few as three in several 

 others. They, like nearly all carnivorous animals, are born blind 

 and remain so for about eight days. The vixen is a very poor navvy, 

 and, this being so, she has to depend to a great extent upon the 

 exertions of the Badger and the Rabbit for the making of a home 

 for herself and family. She never starts an "earth" on her own 

 account, no matter how easy digging the soil may be, but always 

 takes possession of one made by a Badger, or, in a neighbourhood 

 where this animal does not exist, takes to a Rabbit burrow, which 

 she enlarges by following up and clearing out the passages. In some 

 localities where there are no Badgers, and the soil is too heavy and 

 wet for the Rabbit to make strong burrows, vixens do not attempt 

 to breed underground, but lay up their cubs in a stub root of a tree, 

 or in any dry, suitable place. 



Some years ago a keeper had occasion to visit some men who 

 were cutting undergrowth in a big wood in the Woodland Pytchley 

 country. At the time of his visit the men were sitting round a big 

 fire eating their dinner. While speaking to them, he noticed a slight 

 movement in the dry leaves in a big Ash stub about five yards distant 

 from where the men were sitting. He stepped forward to see what 

 the stub contained, and there found six cubs only a few hours old. 

 The poles had been removed that morning from the stub without 

 the men noticing anything there. I may add this was on February 5, 



