34 BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTUEE. 



by the Department of Commerce. 1 The Aleutian Islands and islands 



included in national forests are under the jurisdiction of the Secretary 



of Agriculture. 



Game laws and regulations are notoriously subject to change. 



Each legislature and each new regime modifies them more or less. 



Those outlined above are likely to be modified or displaced altogether 



within a few years. Therefore, until domestic foxes attain the status 



of other domestic animals and are freed from the application of game 



laws, persons intending to breed or deal in them should first inform 



themselves as to the bearing of current laws upon the proposed 



enterprise. 



SUMMARY. 



The silver fox is a color phase of the common red fox. The beauty 

 and rarity of its pelt have made it the most valuable of fur animals. 

 It was first successfully domesticated in 1894 in the Canadian Prov- 

 ince of Prince Edward Island. In 1910 pelts from ranch-bred foxes 

 brought higher prices than those from wild foxes, the average value 

 being over $1,300 each. Since that time the demand for breeding 

 stock has been so great that very few domesticated foxes have been 

 slaughtered. Prices of live foxes soared beyond reach of the ordi- 

 nary purse, but they have declined heavily since the beginning of the 

 European war. Stock companies, some of them very much over- 

 capitalized, have been organized to engage in the new industry, which 

 thus has suddenly been transformed from a secret enterprise into a 

 widely heralded speculation. One of the favorable results of this 

 expansion has been a careful study of foxes in domestication, and 

 this will contribute materially to the permanence of fox farming. 



A fox ranch should be situated where it will have good drainage 

 and be partially shaded by a young growth of deciduous trees. Each 

 pair of foxes should have a runway of about 2,500 square feet. They 

 thrive on a varied diet, including meat, fish, bread, mush, milk, and 

 table scraps. The reproductive period is about 10 years. The young 

 are born in April or May, the average litter containing four cubs ; but 

 as only about half of the captive females produce young in any given 

 year, the annual increase has not averaged above 100 per cent. 



Foxes bear captivity well. No widespread disease has appeared 

 among them. Wounds heal readily, and cases of sickness are usually 

 attributable to a lack of proper care. By selective breeding the 

 originators of fox culture produced a superior strain of animals in 

 the course of a few years. This fact is an assurance that even 

 greater improvements can be achieved by selecting, from different 

 geographic races, foxes of the largest size and crossing them with 

 animals having the finest fur. 



1 Full information regarding leasing Alaskan islands may be had by addressing the Secretary of Com- 

 merce, Washington, D. C 



