232 



THE BEASTS OF PREY. 



alights, disentangles the animals and harnesses 

 them to the sled afresh. 



The arctic nations could not exist without this 

 domestic animal, which renders them innumerable 

 useful services. Carrying a burden of from twenty 

 to thirty pounds, these Dogs accompany their mas- 

 ters on their long protracted hunting expeditions. 

 From six to ten Dogs draw a sled with a load of 

 from six to eight hundred pounds, and they are said 

 to cover considerable distances, usually from twenty- 

 five to thirty miles a day. If the load is light, 

 they may traverse fifty miles. If they scent game 

 on their way, they often start, in mad pursuit, after 

 it. They also assist in the chase, mount guard, 

 defend their owner in case of danger, and render a 

 hundred other valuable services. 



Steller's Account Steller has given us an excellent 

 of the Life description of how these Dogs and 



of Eskimo Dogs, their kin are used: "Among the 

 domesticated animals of Kamchatka the Dogs take 

 first rank because of their remote antiquity as well 

 as their usefulness; and besides, they are the only 

 domestic animals in that country. 



" Without Dogs people could not live here, as in 

 other countries they could not do without Horses 

 and Cattle. The Dogs of Kamchatka are of various 

 colors, the white, black and wolfish -gray varieties 

 predominating. The fur is very dense and long. 

 These Dogs live on fish. From spring till late 

 autumn they receive no attention, and prowl around 

 at liberty. All day long they lie in wait for fishes 

 on river banks, catching them with great dexterity. 

 When they have enough fish, like Bears they eat 

 only the heads, and leave the rest. In October 

 every Mai; collects his Dogs and ties them to his 

 house posts. Then the animals are made to go 

 hungry for some time, so as to lose their fat and 

 be in condition to run without losing breath, and 

 with the first snow-fall their misery begins. They 

 are then heard bewailing their fate, howling and 

 lamenting day and night. Their food in winter is of 

 two kinds. As a dessert and stimulant they receive 

 putrid fish, which has been stored and soured in pits. 

 The principal food is dry, and consists of mouldy 

 fish, dried in the air. This they get in the morning, 

 to brace them up for running. The strength of 

 these Dogs is astonishing. As a usual thing only 

 four Dogs are harnessed to one sled, but they easily 

 draw three adult people and a load of fifty pounds. 

 The load ordinarily given to four Dogs is from one 

 hundred and sixty to two hundred pounds. Although 

 traveling with Dogs is very arduous and dangerous, 

 and more fatiguing than journeying on foot, and the 

 driver becomes thoroughly worn out with the work 

 of guiding these Dogs and the discomforts of this 

 method of traveling, yet it has many advantages. 

 By this means journeys from one place to another 

 can be made over the worst roads, upon which no 

 progress could be accomplished either with Horses 

 or on foot, because of the deep snow." 



THE FOXES. 



The Foxes ( Vulpes) differ to a considei-able ex- 

 tent from the Wolves. The long body, the long 

 head with its pointed muzzle, the elongated and 

 somewhat oblique pupils of the eyes, the short legs 

 and the very long, bushy tail or "brush" of the Foxes 

 entitle them to rank as a distinct species. In spite of 

 the resemblance to the customs and habits of other 

 Canidae, their behavior and character display many 

 peculiar traits and are worthy of special mention. 



r/ie Common Fox, The Common Fox ( Vulpes vulgaris) 

 the Famous undoubtedly ranks first among; 

 Reynard. the wild mammals of Germany. 

 Scarcely any other animal, except, perhaps, the 

 Jackal, enjoys such celebrity and universal indorse- 

 ment as friend Reynard, the emblem of cunning, 

 slyness, deceit, mischief, and if I may say so, vulgar 

 chivalry. He is praised by proverb and tradition^ 

 he is glorified by poems; that greatest of poets, 

 Goethe, thought him a worthy subject of an epic. 

 Whether he deserves all this glory is another ques- 

 tion. Pechuel-Loesche says: "The Fox of traditioa 

 and poetry and the Fox iri real life are really two 

 very different animals. Whoever observes him with, 

 an unprejudiced mind, fails to discover any extraor- 

 dinary degree of that much praised presence of mind,, 

 cleverness, cunning and practical sense, or even an. 

 unusually keen development of the senses. In my 

 opinion he is by no means superior in his endow- 

 ments to other Beasts of Prey, especially the Wolf, 

 The most that can be truly said in his praise is ta 

 admit that, when he is pursued, he knows how to 

 adapt himself to the surrounding circumstances, but 

 scarcely more so than other sagacious animals. Like 

 many other animals, including the harmless species, 

 some old Foxes may have their wits unusually, sharp- 

 ened by experience, but every huntsman who has 

 had much to do with Foxes will admit that there 

 are a .great many which are not ingenious, and some 

 which may even be called stupid, and this refers 

 not only to young, inexperienced Foxes^ but also to 

 many old ones. The Fox is a rascal aixa knows his- 

 trade, because he has to make a living somehow; he 

 is impudent, but only when driven by hunger or 

 when he has to provide for his little family; and itt 

 bad plights he shows neither presence of mind nor 

 deliberation, but loses his head completely. He Is- 

 caught in clumsy traps and this even repeatedly. 1{1 

 the open country he allows a sled to approach him- 

 within a gun's shot; he permits himself to be sur- 

 rounded in a hunt in spite of the noise and shots, 

 instead of wisely taking to his heels; in short, this 

 animal, which is more relentlessly pursued than any 

 other inhabitant of the woods, still has not learned 

 to see through all the tricks of Men and shape his 

 actions accordingly. Master Reynard of traditioa 

 and the Common Fox of the forest may not very 

 well be regarded as the same animal, for the latter 

 is by no means remarkably clever." 

 General Descrip- Reynard is the hero of a hundred 

 tion of the stories and pictures, and his image is 

 Common Fox. ^gll known to everybody. Still he 

 deserves to be specially introduced to those who are 

 not very conversant with nature. His lengthis fifty- 

 six inches, twenty of which are taken up by the tail; 

 the height at the shoulder is fourteen or at the most 

 fifteen inches. The head is wide, the forehead flat, 

 the muzzle, which tapers sharply, is long and thin. 

 The eyes are oblique, and the triangular ears are 

 erect. The body appears stout on account of the 

 thick fur, but is in reality remarkably slender, though 

 very strong and capable of a great range of move- 

 ment. The legs are lean and short, the tail is long 

 and bushy, the fur is thick and soft. Reynard and 

 all his noble family are clothed in a way which is- 

 excellently adapted to their predaceous life. The 

 color is a pale, grayish red, resembling the color of 

 the ground, and is equally fit for any forest, high or 

 low, for the heath, for a field and for a rocky region. 

 The coat of the Fox seems to correspond more 

 closely to his surroundings than that of any other 



