216 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND FOREST. 



would tempt him so long as there was a bird or a 

 mouse to be found. 



Our red fox is by no means the same animal as 

 the English fox ( Vulpes vulpes). The latter lacks 

 the soft color of the former, the fur is harsher and 

 not nearly so fine, the head is broader, tbe muzzle 

 less pointed and shorter, and there is less black on 

 the legs. I do not suppose, however, that the two 

 animals difEer very greatly in character, as the Ameri- 

 can fox is quite equal to his English cousin in an 

 ability to hold his own on the very ground of his 

 arch-enemy, man ; and in this country, where fox- 

 hunting has not yet become common, the fox needs all 

 his clever wits to evade the cruel traps of the relent- 

 less trapper who means business and not sport. It is 

 a fair fight, though, between the fox and the trapper ; 

 but the fox-hunter's childish sport offers the fox no 

 chance ; it is all rank injustice ; he must run to his 

 death and make a holiday for idle men and a pack 

 of dogs. 



In spite of his adversaries the sagacious fox still 

 retains his place throughout the wilder parts of the 

 country, and given some proper consideration he will 

 continue to live without making serious inroads on 

 the shiftless farmer's defenseless chicken roost. It is 

 doubtful whether he ever gets a chance to rob a man 

 of thrift. Our failure to recognize the common 



