FOX-FARMING IN CANADA 55 



"When the fracture is not compound, the limb may be set in splints 

 of any light wood; maple saplings make good splints. Bind the splint 

 on with adhesive plaster and with rabbit wire; the fur makes sufficient 

 padding for it. Dust with iodoform to keep the fox from tearing the 

 splint off. In winter, care must be taken that the leg does not freeze. 



"Judicious feeding can only be learned by experience. 

 F^ed^ing'^^ ^""^ '^^^^^ ^^'^ °*^®^ S^een food and fresh earth should be 



placed in the enclosures at frequent intervals, as the an- 

 imals require something of that nature to keep them healthy. Their 

 kennels should be kept as clean as possible and should be washed out 

 once or twice a year with a hot solution of creolin, two drams to the pint. 

 One breeder dips all his foxes, after the pups are weaned, in a weak 

 solution of creolin to rid them of fleas and other vermin. 



"In general, it is far better to take good hygienic precautions before 

 the foxes get sick, than to invite disease by permitting them to live in 

 filth in small enclosures." 



In 1912, vague reports were circulated among the 



Dangerous Fox i^j-eeders of Prince Edward Island that a contagious 

 Diseases . . ° 



parasitic disease was bemg mtroduced by blue foxes 



imported from Alaska. A definite warning was furnished the Commis- 

 sion of Conservation by an eminent United States authority that such 

 a dangerous disease exists and would prove fatal to the fox industry if 

 introduced; but few details of the disease were presented. A letter of 

 inquiry was sent to Mr. George M. Bowers, Commissioner of Fisheries, 

 Department of Commerce and Labour, who has charge of the conserva- 

 tion of foxes and seals at certain points in Alaska. The reply under 

 date of November 25, 1912, is as follows: 



"The Bureau has not been informed of any particular para- 

 sitic disease as existing among the foxes of Alaska. So far as 

 known, fatal disease has been so rare as to be negligible in the con- 

 sideration of fox raising. Improper feeding, accidental poisoning 

 and tuberculosis have been known to cause the death of individual 

 foxes, but nothing in the nature of an epidemic has been reported." 



Where in the cases reported, two ranches — one in Labrador and 

 the other in Maine— lost all, or nearly all their foxes, it is very probable 

 that the trouble was distemper. 



n 4. • As already stated, the capturing of escaped foxes presents 

 Capturing •' ' ^ ■ i ji i • 



Escaped little difficulty provided they do not get outside the exterior 



^°^^^ fence. They will often, of their own accord, return through 



