﻿BLUE-FOX FAEMIFG I]Sr ALASKA 19 



Of the effective means at the command of the breeder to improve 

 the stock, next in importance to selection is the judicious mating of 

 related animals. This process is known as inbreeding. Inbreeding 

 can be carried on successfully only whejfe animals are kept in con- 

 finement and their identity kriown. Following the method of grad- 

 ing just described, however, and not introducing new and better 

 males from other sources, would eventually result in inbreeding. 



TIME OF BRKEDING 



Most blue-fox pups mate at the age of 10 months and produce 

 young when they are about a year old. Apparently the breeding 

 season varies slightly in different regions and at times is influenced 

 by variation in the climate. The mating season, or, as it is com- 

 monly known among ranchers, the " barking " period, starts about 

 the first of February and continues for approximately 40 days. 

 Most of the matings occur during February and March. 



So far as known, the oestrum, or heat period, occurs once a year 

 and lasts 3 or 4 days. "While the vixen will accept service only at 

 this time, it seems to make little difference Avhether it is early or 

 late in the period. 



The gestation period is 51 or 52 days and the young are usually 

 whelped in April or May, although sometimes as late as the middle 

 of June. Litters vary in number from 1 to 14, but the average 

 number raised is about 5. 



MATING 



Improving the stock by selective breeding will undoubtedly result 

 in increased profits in fox raising. If the more remote as well as 

 the immediate ancestors have been bred with the aim of producing 

 extra fine pelts, then the chances are that this will be transmitted to 

 most of the offspring from such matings. 



In selecting blue foxes for breeders, it is to be borne in mind 

 that pelts have a tendency to become lighter with age. No foxes 

 showing white markings in the fur should be kept for breeding. 

 Occasionally, however, a blue fox may show a white star on its 

 breast, but this is not objectionable. 



The possibilities of modification or improvement by selective 

 breeding are fully as great with foxes as Avith domesticated animals, 

 and selective breeding will therefore in time produce a much finer 

 strain of foxes. 



Ordinarily blue foxes have only one mate, but occasionally a male 

 will have two, and there are a few reports of a male having three. 



ESSENTIALS OF FEEDING 



The real object to Ik; kept in mind in feeding foxes is to supply 

 nutritive material for building and repairing the body and for pro- 

 ducing fsood fur. Th(i I'ation must be Avholesome and acceptable, 

 and at tiie same time reasonably cheap. Chninliness in prepai-ation 

 and i-etrularity in feeding ai-e im])ortant. 



While it is recognized that it is almost impossible to follow out 

 ideal systems of feeding under present conditions on islands, yet it 



