FOX-FARMING IN CANADA 



43 



all about the six sides of the box, if packed with insulating material, 

 will retam the heat sufficiently and will absorb dampness. In some 

 cases, a light bedding of earth, leaves, seaweed or marshgrass is given 

 m the winter. 



Arrangement of ^* ^^ ^^^^^ *° P^^°® ^^^^ ^^^^ ^^ ^^"^^ °^ ^°*^ ^^'^^^ 

 Pens and Kennels °^ ^^ ^'^ey about six or eight feet wide,* the fences 



at the ends of the alley being an additional safe- 

 guard against escape. The dog (or male) pen, according to one plan, 

 consists of one end of the common pen and the male is segregated by 

 simply closing the door. According to another plan, the pen for 

 the male is several feet distant and segregation is effected by simply 

 closiag the slide door in the passageway. The kennel provided for 

 the dog fox may be a box or barrel with a chute entrance. The dog 

 pen is becoming less used year by year. It should be constructed 

 near the other pen and arrangements should be made so that the 

 pairs can be separated quietly. No confusion or excitement whatever 

 in effecting a separation of the male and female at this critical period 

 should be permitted. 



The food of foxes in the wild state does not consist wholly 

 Feeding °-^ ^®^^ ^^ many suppose; for, to a certain extent, the fox 



is omnivorous, and will eat grass and berries. If flesh 

 only were fed to a ranch fox the probability is that, after a time, digestion 

 would be greatly impaired and the whole intestinal tract would be- 

 come infested with worms. 



The food varies so much in each locality that it is impossible to 

 do more than state the principles which should govern the feeding 

 of foxes. The very fact that success is achieved with so many kinds 

 of dieting proves that the fox, like the dog, can live well on almost 

 any kind of food. A prospectus of a ranch at Copper River, Alaska, 

 says that the pelts of their foxes have a magnificent sheen because 

 the animals are fed on oUy salmon. Ontario ranchers have many 

 excuses to hunt rabbits and groundhogs, because they are 'natural' 

 food for the foxes. J. Beetz of Piastre Bale, Que., finds fish and lobster 

 good, and his success in catching foxes is largelj^ due to the fact that 

 they come down from the interior each winter to seek just such food 

 on the shore of the gulf of St. Lawrence. And who could tell an old 

 Prince Edward Island rancher how to feed his foxes? 'The best in 

 the house is none too good,' he says, and he will feed them almost 

 everything he would eat himself, and some grass, minnows, mice, 

 crickets and berries besides. 



*See diagram facing this page. 



