262 THE BOOK OF THE ANIMAL KINGDOM 



and frozen snow three inches deep was on the ground at the time. 

 My friend was very anxious as to the safety of this young family, as 

 Foxes were strictly preserved in the district. He therefore at once 

 had the fire put out and the woodcutting operations stopped in that 

 part of the wood. He was curious to know what steps the mother 

 would take as a result of this disturbed state of her home, and in 

 consequence sent for his field-glasses and kept watch, for he felt sure 

 she would not be absent long if she had any regard for her 

 youngsters, especially during such severe weather. He had not long 

 to wait when he saw her come to the edge of the uncut wood, take a 

 general survey round, and, finding all quiet, she very cautiously took 

 half-a-dozen circles round the stub, finally entering, curling herself 

 up, and suckling her cubs in the same way as a bitch would treat 

 her puppies. The following morning he again went to the spot and 

 found the youngsters gone. No doubt the vixen had removed them 

 to a more quiet part of the wood. 



It has been said that the offspring of stub-bred Foxes will always 

 breed above ground, but I have had many instances brought to my 

 notice of this not being so, for, after removing stub-bred Foxes 

 into a country where there are plenty of earths, my keeper friends 

 tell me, the animals go to ground and breed there as freely as the 

 natives do. I think this is proof that stub-bred Foxes are so only by 

 compulsion and not from choice. 



There is no doubt about Foxes pairing off during the breeding 

 season, for this is often shown by the fact that where hounds find a 

 vixen in the early Spring months a Dog Fox is there too. If not 

 actually with her, he is almost sure to be " viewed away " from the 

 same covert. That the pair both take an active part in preparing a 

 home for the expected family is also plainly to be seen by the two 

 sizes of pads on the fresh-drawn soil at the entrance to the earth. 



From observations made over a series of years, I am of opinion 

 that the Dog Fox does the greater part of the work of clearing out 

 and making ready the earth. After the cubs are born he still con- 

 tinues to be a helpmate to the vixen by providing her with food. 

 Some keepers say he will bring up the family by himself should the 

 mother get killed. This may be so in some cases, but Mr. Bamford 

 tells me that he has never known a single instance where this has 

 taken place, although he has seen many litters left motherless at 

 various ages. Of course, there is no question as to the result if the 

 vixen loses her life during the time the cubs are entirely dependent 



