ae 
Except by destroying game, foxes do very little damage in the 
county at present. Poultry-yards are so well guarded and easily 
accessible food so abundant that foxes are not tempted to make a 
raid on the farmers’ hens. On the other hand, they destroy mice 
and moles, and thus make some compensation for the game they 
kill, 
GRAY FOX. 
Urocyon cinereoargenteus (Miller). 
Cants cinereoargenteus Mull., Natur. Suppl., 1776, p. 29. 
The gray foxes, including several subspecies, are found in tim- 
bered regions in all parts of the United States and Mexico. The 
type species occurs from Georgia north to New England and west 
through the timbered portions of the Mississippi Valley. 
The gray fox is about the size of the red fox. The general color 
of the upper parts is a mixture of gray and black. The outside and 
base of the ears, the side of the neck, the edges of the belly, and 
more or less of the outer side of the limbs are ochraceous to cinna- 
mon-brown. There is a band of black across the muzzle. The lower 
half of the head, chin, and sides of muzzle are white. The under 
parts are ferruginous. 
The gray fox was originally fairly abundant in this county, but 
is now quite rare. Its general scarcity as compared with the red 
fox is probably due to a difference in habit. It is not a burrowing 
animal, and is more dependent than the red fox on heavy timber and 
an unsettled country for dens and shelter. It is therefore far more 
intolerant of civilization than the red fox, and is replaced by that 
species as the country becomes thickly settled. 
BLACK BEAR. 
Ursus americanus Pallas. 
(Spiciles, Zool., Fasc: X1V., 1780), p. 5.) 
The black bear is found in the eastern part of North America 
wherever forests are found, except in Labrador, Florida, and 
Louisiana. Closely related species continue the range to the 
Pacific and south to Texas. 
I have not been able to find any one among the early settlers who 
could vouch for a bear’s being seen in the county. They were com- 
