7780 Quadrupeds. 



distinguish the place by scenting his urine, with which a fox invariably 

 sprinkles in a liberal manner all his secret hoards. 



This animal is by no means choice in his food : mice, birds, hares, 

 fish, carrion, all come alike to him, and he will even make a meal of a 

 fellow fox if he finds one dead in a trap. In summer a great number 

 of young water-fowl are killed by him, and when musk rats are, by the 

 freezing up of their houses, driven to migrate in the winter, he devours 

 them without mercy. 



Respecting any special difference between the three varieties I can 

 see but very little. The cross fox is generally the largest, and the 

 silver fox the most thickly furred. Some trappers profess to know by 

 the shape of the foot whether a specimen be that of a silver fox or not, 

 their idea being that the foot of that variety is more rounded than the 

 others; but I have often seen them mistaken. The foot-prints of a 

 young fox, of whatever colour, have always this appearance, and the 

 foot of the female is more pointed than that of the male. A popular 

 fallacy also prevails among the " winterers" that a silver fox is more 

 cunning than one of any other colour. I imagine the scarcity of the 

 silver variety originated this fancy. 



The foxes of this district are generally of a very large size, and I ara 

 doubtful if they do not belong rather to the macrourous than the fulvous 

 species. 



The foxes inhabiting the barren grounds often present an appear- 

 ance similar to that of the Sampson fox ; the long hairs of the body 

 and tail are wanting, leaving the soft woolly fur entirely exposed in 

 some specimens, and in others partly so, particularly the sides of the 

 thighs. The natives attribute this to their living so much in their 

 holes, which are generally among rocks, and not roaming about so 

 frequently as those inhabiting the wooded country, which often do not 

 visit their dens for weeks together. 



The following table shows the proportion of each colour traded in 

 in this district during the last ten years, and will give a very accurate 

 i d a of the relative number of each variety : — 



Bed 6 Cross 7 Silver 2 = 15 



Foxes are most prevalent around the great lakes and on the shores 

 of the Arctic Sea. On the Mackenzie River they are also tolerably 

 numerous, but towards the mountains up the Liard's River they 

 become very scarce. 



There are several methods by which foxes are caught and killed, 

 which I will pass in review, detailing those which differ from any 



