72 ANIMAL INTELLIGENCE. 



Foxes usually travel in pairs, and the survivor of the 

 one that was killed, was warned by the fate of his 

 comrade, that extra care must be used to secure the 

 coveted bait with safety. So these cunning creatures prac- 

 tised two ways of doing this. They would approach the 

 gun from behind, cut the string back of the muzzle, 

 and then carry off the bait at their leisure, or else 

 employ this more daring expedient. When these traps 

 were set, the ground was usually covered with a thick 

 depth of snow. The foxes took advantage of this, and 

 would work up to the bait in a lateral direction, by 

 digging out a track in the snow below the surface, reach 

 up and seize the bait, which would of course discharge 

 the gun, but would leave them unharmed, as they were 

 underneath the line of fire. This stratagem was so ex- 

 traordinary and so audacious, that Dr. Rae could not 

 believe that it was deliberately done, until it had been 

 verified by repeated trials. The foxes never dug out 

 their track in the snow in the line of fire, but always at 

 right angles to it, as that was clearly the safest direction 

 in which to approach it. I should say that in adjusting 

 the string it was necessary to leave about four inches of 

 slack, to provide for its contraction with the varying 

 humidity of the air, so that the fox could pull it down 

 that distance before the gun went off. In order to 

 deceive them as much as possible, the string connecting 

 the bait with the gun was buried under the snow along 

 its entire length, excepting at the two ends, where it 

 necessarily came to the surface to connect with the bait 

 and the gun. The fox had evidently reasoned out that 

 that strange looking object 30 yards off, had been the 

 cause of his companion's death, and that it must be cir- 

 cumvented in some way in order to secure the food, and 

 circumvent it he certainly did. I doubt whether any of 

 us would care to get a dinner on such risky terms — 

 deliberately to provoke a rattling fire of shot a few 



2S 



