VULPUS FULVUS, (DeEsmarsst). 
THE FOX. 
Specific Character—Reddish yellow; black behind, grizzled wii grayish. 
Throat and narrow line on the belly, white. Ears behind and tips of caudal 
hairs (except terminal brush) black. 
Habitat—Arctic America to Northern United States. 
Average Size.—Equal to a medium sized dog. 
Average Weight.—15 pounds. 
Average Height.-—14 inches. 
Average Length.—40 inches; nose to tail, 26 inches ; tail, 14 inches. 
Value of Fur.—Per skin, average 75c. to $1.00. 
The fox abounds in Ontario and is generally regarded as a downright. 
nuisance. 
To the farmer he is a pest, and as a destroyer of young game and game bird’s 
eggs, he is almost without a peer. 
The fox lives in a hole of hisown making, and there the she-fox bee forth 
her young in April, generally three to five at a litter. The cubs live on the fat. 
of the land if a hen roost is anywhere near at hand, for the mother is a successful 
poacher and evades the farmers’ gun and traps right warily. 
The skins are readily sold, and bring a fair price in the markets, but are all 
exported to Russia and Germany. 
The fox is variable in the colour and marking of its fur ; some specimens being 
of a pale yellow, some of a reddish fawn, and some blackish in tinting. In nearly 
every specimen there is a dark transverse strip over the shoulders, giving the 
animal the appellation of a cross fox. 
The hair is long, silky and soft. Tail very full and composed of an under fur- 
with long hair distributed uniformly amony it, and having a white tip; feet and 
ears, black. 
The fox is crafty to a degree and unless taken at a disadvantage, generally 
manages to elude its pursuers. 
The skin has a peculiar and offensive odour, and for this reason few foxes are 
tamed, although they are easily domesticated. 
