SILVER FOX FARMING. 



13 



digging out, the fence is either extended into the ground (fig. 17) or 

 turned abruptly inward at the surface (fig. 18) to form a mat 3 feet 

 wide, the inner edge of which is pinned firmly to the ground and 

 usually covered with earth or stone. A fence extended into the 

 ground must reach a depth of 4 or 5 feet if the soil is soft, and be 

 turned inward a foot at the bottom. If there is a subsoil of clay or 



hardpan, the fence need not 

 enter it more than 6 inches. 

 Instead of netting, the under- 

 ground part of a fence may 

 be made of 2-inch creosoted 

 planks. As foxes climb wire 

 fences readily an inward over- 

 hang about 18 

 inches wide 

 should b e 

 placed at the 

 top to prevent 

 escape (figs. 

 15-20). When 

 a fox has 

 scrambled up 

 to an overhang, 

 its only means 

 of descending 

 is by falling. 



Fig. 9. — Double-walled den; exterior broken to show inner den (see figs. 7 and 



Sometimes valuable animals have been seriously 



injured in this way. To "prevent accidents of this 



kind an intermediate overhang is sometimes constructed 5 feet from 



the ground, as shown in figure 16, or a smooth zone of boards or 



sheet iron is inserted in the upper half of the fence, as shown in 



figure 20. 



The yards for sequestering males are usually adjacent to the main 

 yards, with which they arc, connected by a chute having a sliding 

 door dig. 21), though sometimes they arc separated from the family 



