THE FOX. IV 



imperial shoulders. I am afraid to say how many thousand 

 pounds have been paid for a mantle of white fox-skins. In con- 

 sequence of the value of the fur, scarcely a Fox can show his 

 sharp nose without being tempted by baits or followed by rifle- 

 men ; and so many have fallen victims, that the survivors have 

 learned wisdom. 



AU persecuted animals learn wisdom. Try to catch an old 

 rat, and see how long you will have to wait before you see 

 him in the trap. Try to snare an old raven, or even to hook an 

 old trout, and you will find that your best energies wOlbe taxed 

 and all your, ingenuity tested, before you wDl succeed. So it has 

 been with the Foxes. They like the bait as well as ever, but 

 they have acquired a rooted distrust of wires, or sticks, or strings, 

 or indeed of anything to which they are not accustomed in their 

 ordinary life, and therefore keep carefully aloof from every- 

 thing that conveys suspicion to their eyes or nostrils. 



The flesh of the young Fox is very good eating, but that of the 

 old animal is almost valueless except to starving men, being 

 hard and stringy, and having a very unpleasant flavour. Even 

 the water in which it has been boiled is acrid, and apt to 

 blister the mouth and gums. But, although the flesh is value- 

 less, the skin is almost beyond price, and the fur of a fine old 

 Fox in perfect condition is worth many times its weight in 

 gold. 



The habitation of the common Fox of this country is by no 

 means so complicated as that of the Arctic species. 



Whenever it can, the Fox avoids the labour of burrowing, 

 and avails itself of the deserted home of a badger, or even a 

 rabbit. In the former case there is very little to be done to the 

 burrow, and in the latter the cunning animal finds its labour 

 greatly diminished ; for though the Fox is a much larger animal 

 than the rabbit, and needs a rather larger tunnel, it finds that 

 the task of enlarging a ready-made burrow is very much less 

 than if it had to drive a passage through solid ground. Every 

 one who has worked with carpenters' tools knows that a large 

 gimlet passes easily through wood, if it follows the track of 

 a smaller one, and on the same principle, the Fox passes 

 easily through the earth on the track of the rabbit. The 

 burrow of the latter animal is moreover much larger than is 



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