BRITISH MAMMALS 



of chase, and endless tales have been told of the wiles and subterfuges 

 employed to escape its enemies or circumvent its prey, from the days of 

 ^sop to our own times. Except in the breeding season the Fox is 

 unsocial and lives apart from his kind, usually occupying an earth or 

 burrow made by some other animal, those dug by the Badger being often 

 taken possession of, or even shared with the owner. 



Foxes pair in the winter months, when the weird harsh cry of the 

 vixen may often be heard at night as she calls to her mate, while the 

 latter reveals his presence by two or three sharp little barks. The cubs, 

 up to seven in number, are born about the end of March, and when 

 old enough will come out to play and scamper around the entrance of 

 their home, when their antics are most entertaining to watch. The 

 sketch forming the tail-piece shows them thus employed, and was taken 

 from life near Godalming. 



As is often the case, I was told that the vixen never interfered with 

 some fowls living close at hand, but would always forage for food at a 

 distance. She was no doubt wise enough to know that her young might 

 be endangered if depredations occurred near home. 



Various are the ruses employed by the Fox when hunting his prey. 

 Charles St. John, in !}{atural History and Sport in the Highlands (8th ed. 

 pp. 195-196), describes how at daybreak he once watched one planning 

 an attack on some hares feeding in the open, first preparing an ambush 

 by scraping a hollow in the ground where he knew by instinct 

 his quarry would pass when leaving the field after sunrise. As soon as 

 a hare came sufficiently near his post, Reynard by a sudden rush 

 seized and killed her immediately. 



At times the Fox employs entirely different tactics, and will apparently 

 make use of the curiosity or liability to fascination in the nature of any 

 bird or other animal he may wish to circumvent. 



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