Fur Farming. 31 



times to cause trouble. The ranch owner whose home could 

 be plainly seen from the pen, made a contract to have his 

 house painted. When the painters started to work, the 

 sight of a stranger or the smell of the paint so excited the 

 mother fox that she brought out her young and killed them. 



In their wild state the males are monogamous and forage 

 for their young. On the ranches, where all the food is 

 provided, there is danger of two parents killing the pups 

 by over attention, so the males are separated from the rest 

 of the family in March, and kept apart until the young are 

 able to take care of themselves. The period of gestation is 

 exactly fifty-one days. The young arrive in March, April 

 or early May. Litters of from one to as many as eight have 

 been recorded, but the average is about four pups. The 

 price of one thousand dollars was refused for a female fox 

 that had reared eighteen young in three years. Foxes 

 mature for fur or breeding in eight months and they are 

 fertile for nine or ten years. The custom appears to be 

 growing among breeders to mate one male with two or more 

 agreeable females. It is plain that by this method a 

 selection of sire can be made, and quicker improvement in 

 quality achieved. 



During the productive period of about nine years, the 

 average production of a pair of foxes will be about thirty 

 3'oung. If these are of the best stock the pelts will be worth 

 $1,500 each at the present market prices, so the yearly 

 profits from a pair should be about $5,000. Every joint 

 stock company that is formed and hires a manager can- 

 not however expect to procure such results. Efficient 

 managers are very hard to find and the best management 

 will not prevent occasional escapes and thefts. The in- 

 dustry is best prosecuted on a diversified farm where 

 waste food material, quiet, and the personal interest of 

 the owners, will go farther toward assuring success than 

 any skilled management that capital can purchase. The 

 business can be very profitably prosecuted by neighbors 

 who will unite in the feeding, care and protection of the 

 stock from thieves, and in the hunting and trapping of 

 escaped animals. 



In any well settled country there is always enough cheap 

 food to provide for hundreds of foxes. A healthy old 

 horse or cow ; livers, heads, feet and other refuse ; calves, 



