18 



BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Foxes should be fed regularly twice a day, morning and evening. 



This is especially important in hot weather, as whatever is left from 



the first meal will spoil before time for the next. By giving at each 



feeding only the proper quantity, the injurious effects of gorging can 



be avoided. Overfeeding is more dangerous than underfeeding. 



Fat animals are not prolific breeders. Eight or ten ounces of meat 



is sufficient for one meal. 



BREEDING. 



Foxes breed only once a year, the mating season occurring in 

 February or March, and lasting anywhere from a few hours to two 



or three days; it is 

 / often indicated by a 



/ brownish discharge. 

 *= rpj ie p er j 0( j f gesta- 

 tion is about 51 days, 

 the young being born 

 in April or May. The 

 number of young in a 

 litter varies from two 

 to eight, the average 

 number born to adult 

 parents being four. 

 In the wild state 

 foxes are monoga- 

 mous, and while the 

 young are being 

 reared the male duti- 

 fully forages for 

 them. In captivity, 

 however, one male 

 sometimes has been 

 mated successfully 

 with two or even 

 three females. In 

 certain cases this 

 may be desirable, but 

 very often it results 

 in no increase whatever. Breeders generally prefer to keep their 

 foxes in pairs. 



Males are removed from the breeding yards for a part of each year, 

 the length of their exile depending upon the relations of the pair. 

 If they are quarrelsome, it is best to separate them soon after the 

 female becomes pregnant. If, on the contrary, they agree and show 

 attachment to each other, it is wise to keep them together until the 

 cubs are four weeks old, but after that the male is likely to bite them 

 during scrambles for food at meal times. While the vixen is devoting 



m 



B2105-96 



Fig. 16. — Iron posts and concrete foundations for yard fence, a, and 

 guard fence, 6. Note the 18-inch overhangs, two on the yard fence, 

 one of which (5 feet from the gound) is to prevent foxes from climbing 

 to the top and the resulting injury from the greater fall. 



