UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



M BULLETIN No. 301 



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Contribution from the Bureau of Biological Survey 

 HENRY W. HENSHAW, Chief 



J&?* < &J'U 



Washington, D. C. 



October 29, 1915 



SILVER FOX FARMING IN EASTERN 

 NORTH AMERICA. 



By Ned Dearborn, Assistant Biologist. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



The silver fox 2 



History of domestication 4 



Area suited for fox farming 6 



Ranch sites 8 



Inclosures 9 



Food 15 



Breeding 18 



Behavior in captivity 21 



Page. 



Handling foxes 22 



Sanitation 23 



Improved strains 25 



Accessories 28 



Costs 30 



Profits 31 



Preparation of skins 31 



Legal aspects 32 



Summary 34 



INTRODUCTION. 



Furs are the most useful and valuable of the several products 

 derived from mid animals. Indispensable to primitive man, they 

 are scarcely less important to the civilized, for in warmth, beauty, and 

 durability no manufactured fabrics equal them. As the result of in- 

 crease of population and of encroachments upon the breeding grounds 

 of the fur bearers the supply of furs has steadily diminished and prices 

 have correspondingly advanced. Trappers have been stimulated to 

 penetrate farther and farther into the uninhabited regions of the 

 north and to redouble their efforts to increase their catch nearer 

 home. Many of the more valuable animals are now so scarce that 

 the demand for their pelts is mot by the substitution of inferior 

 products. Among the most important of the fur bearers of North 

 America is the silver fox, which furnishes the subject of this bulletin. 



The natural production of first-class furs seems to be approaching 

 a me end, and the growing and world-wide demand for them requires 

 thai i be present supply be supplemented with stock obtained through 

 domestication. Experience has demonstrated that some of the fur 

 bearers may be raised without much difficulty. This is likely to lead 



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