SILVER FOX FARMING. 



19 



Fig. 



17. — Fence extending 

 into the ground. 



herself to the young, the male carries food to her and warns her by- 

 sharp barks whenever he suspects danger. While sequestered, the 

 males are usually kept in small pens which may adjoin the breeding 

 yards, as shown in figures 13 and 14, or removed 

 to a separate inclosure, where they may be 

 allowed to run together in a large yard or con- 

 fined in individual pens. Because of their incli- 

 nation to fight, individual pens are preferable. 

 The reproductive period in foxes is about 10 

 years. Approximately 50 per cent of the females 

 in domestication breed each year, and the aggre- 

 gate increase is not far from 100 per cent for the 

 total stock on ranches. Failure to breed is 

 attributable to a variety of causes, among which 

 are sterility, injuries, worry, and mismating. 

 Females barren for two years in succession fre- 

 quently become productive on being mated to a 

 different male. Prolific vixens, run down by 

 several litters in succession, sometimes skip a 

 year in which to recuperate. Foxes breed more 

 freely on the ranch where they were reared than 

 amid strange surroundings. Their wild nature 

 dominates most of their actions. They are constantly in a state of 

 apprehension, and it is only by the greatest care that confidential 

 relations can be established between them and their keepers. This 

 fear may cause the female to refuse the atten- 

 tions of the male; or she may become excited 

 so as to injure herself and give birth prema- 

 turely. But worst of all, even after producing 

 a litter of healthy young, she may be so solici- 

 tous for their safety as to maltreat or kill them 

 in her efforts to get them out of imaginary harm's 

 way. Often when her young are just born, or 

 only a few days old, she will carry them about 

 the inclosure all day, apparently seeking a place 

 to hide them. Perhaps she digs a hole in the 

 ground and removes them one by one from the 

 warm den to the cold earth. Thus the little 

 things may bo moved successively to a number 

 of freshly dug holes and to and from these and 

 the den until they die. From the time the cubs 

 are born until they are two or three wooks old 

 constant care must he t;iken to prevent losses in this manner. Any 

 unusual sight, sound, or odor, by day or night, is liable to alarm a 

 vixen and cause her to maltreat her young. The best way of dealing 

 with a worried vixen is to shut her with her cubs in the den for several 



1 10. is.— Fence turned inward 



:it urf:ic<; of gTOUIld tO form 



a mat. 



