34 COMMISSION OF CONSERVATION 



4. The snow does not pile in drifts, but lies level, on wooded 

 areas. Huge drifts necessitate higher fences, or wiring over, to 

 prevent escape. Fences do not need to be more than six or seven 

 feet high if the snow never lies more than one or two feet deep. 



5. A ranch in the woods has more equable climatic condi- 

 tions. It is cooler in summer, less windy in winter, and is warmer 

 for young foxes in the spring. There is less thawing and freezing 

 up of snow to injure the fur. It also affords protection from 

 rain and sleet. 



6. The foxes can hide from thieves and could not be captured 

 by a stranger unless the house were broken into when they were 

 shut in their nest. So much noise, however, would be sure to 

 rouse the dog and the watchman. 



7. The outer enclosure permits of protective measures being 

 taken. The keeper sleeps in a house there. Dogs are kept chained. 

 Traps for thieves are laid, as, e.g., bear traps, burglar alarms, elec- 

 tric shocking devices; and some ranches are lighted with lanterns 

 or electric lights and are equipped with telephones. 



8. Large ranches seem to be more successful than smaller 

 ones, because foxes in contiguous pens are company for each other. 



If a wood-lot is not available, the ranch may be built 

 Chosen' ^^ ^^ cleared ground and quick-growing trees planted. 

 The Carolina poplar, soft maple, Manitoba maple {Acer 

 negundo) , black locust and wUlow are among the fastest growers. One 

 rancher living in an Ontario city in a grape-growing district has planted 

 grapes vines about the paddocks and will train them over his pens. 

 The predilection of the fox for grapes is well known since the time 

 of .^sop, but life in a vineyard may not be more beneficial to rejmard's 

 health than life elsewhere. The vines provide a dense shade in summer 

 no shelter in winter, fresh fruit in season, and exercise in securing 

 food. The whole ranch is surrounded by a concrete wall. Such a 

 ranch is impossible in a district where there is a heavier snowfall. 

 The lack of ventilation through the pens is objectionable and the 

 cost is considerable. It shows, however, that an experienced breeder 

 can establish the industry on city lots in a populous neighbourhood. 



Sometimes an orchard serves as a suitable situation for a ranch. 

 For instance, Mr. T. L. Burrowman, of Wyoming, Ont., has placed his 

 pens in a four-acre orchard, the foxes being kept out of the trees by 

 trunk shields. 



Barnyards, open fields about the houses, hill-tops where snow 

 drifts off and many other situations are frequently chosen, but the 



