212 ANIMAL COMPETITORS 
enemies in the wilderness, and the skill in avoiding 
them inherited from innumerable ancestors serves -it 
well when in civilized lands the fox finds troops of 
dogs set upon its track. 
“Standard works are supplemented by admirable 
essays on the American fox by Thoreau, Burroughs, 
Lottridge, Robinson, Seton, and others who know him 
well; none is more complete and intimate than the 
history given by Mr. Cram, who asserts that in New 
England, at least, the foxes in cultivated districts 
are far more highly developed in intellect than are 
those of the outlying parts, or than were the foxes 
of a century ago. They are the most bold, skillful, 
and inveterate of poultry thieves, and will sometimes 
take as many as ‘thirty pullets in a single night’; 
and often half or more of the booty of such a raid 
will be found in a pile in some hiding-place, which 
goes to show that the foxes of all cold regions prob- 
ably store surplus food. In return for levying upon 
his chickens (or, in Europe, upon the pheasants and 
other treasures of the gamekeeper) the animal aids 
the farmer by destroying numberless rats, mice, 
gophers, and similar pests.’’ 
Value of fox fur. Of all the products de- 
rived from wild animals furs are the most 
useful and valuable. Indispensable to primi- 
tive man, they are scarcely less important to 
the most civilized, for in warmth, beauty and 
durability, no manufactured fabrics excel them 
