418 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



amusement has now passed and the fox must 

 everywhere depend on his nimble wits for 

 safety. 



Since the days of ^Esop's fables tales of 

 foxes and their doings have had their place in 

 literature as well as in the folk-lore of the 

 countryside. Many of their amazing wiles to 

 outwit pursuers or to capture their prey give 

 evidence of extraordinary mental powers. 



Their bill of fare includes many items, as 

 mice, birds, reptiles, insects, many kinds of 

 fruits, and on rare occasions a chicken. The 

 bad name borne by them among farmers, due 

 to occasional raids on the poultry yard, is 

 largely unwarranted. They kill enormous 

 numbers of mice and other small rodents each 

 year, and thus well repay the loss of a chicken 

 now and then. 



Red foxes apparently pair for life and oc- 

 cupy dens dug by themselves in a secluded 

 knoll or among rocks. These dens, which are 

 sometimes occupied for years in succession, 

 always have two or more entrances opening in 

 opposite directions, so that an enemy entering 

 on one side may be readily eluded. The young, 

 numbering up to eight or nine, are tenderly 

 cared for by both parents. 



Although they have been persistently hunted 

 and trapped in North America since the ear- 

 liest times, they still yield a royal annual trib- 

 ute of furs. It is well known that the highly 

 prized cross, as well as the precious black, and 

 silver gray foxes are merely color phases oc- 

 curring in litters of the ordinary red animal. 

 Black skins are so highly prized that specially 

 fine ones have sold for more than $2,500 each 

 in the London market. The reward thus of- 

 fered has resulted in the development of black 

 fox fur- farms, which have been very success- 

 ful in parts of Canada and the United States, 

 thus originating a valuable new industry. 



By the modern regulation of trapping, foxes 

 and other fur-bearers are destined to survive 

 wherever conditions are favorable. In addi- 

 tion to the economic value of foxes, the loca- 

 tion of an occasional fox den here and there 

 on the borders of a woodland tract, the mean- 

 dering tracks in the snow, and the occasional 

 glimpse of animals cautiously making their 

 rounds add a keen touch of primitive nature 

 well worth preserving in any locality. 



ALASKA RED FOX (Vulpes kenaiensis) 



The red fox of the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 

 and the adjacent mainland is probably the 

 largest of its kind in the world, although those 

 of Kodiak Island and of the Mackenzie River 

 valley are nearly as large. Compared with its 

 relatives of the United States, the Kenai fox 

 is a giant, with heavier, duller-colored coat 

 and a huge tail, more like that of a wolf than 

 of a fox. The spruce and birch forests of 

 Alaska and the Mackenzie Valley are appar- 

 ently peculiarly adapted to red foxes, as shown 

 by the development there of these animals — 

 good illustrations of the relative increase in 

 size and vigor of animals in a specially favor- 

 able environment. 



As noted in the general account of the red 

 foxes, the occurrence of the black phase is 

 sporadic, and the relative number of dark in- 

 dividuals varies greatly in different parts of 

 their range. The region about the upper Yu- 

 kon and its tributaries and the Mackenzie 

 River basin are noted for the number of black 

 foxes produced, apparently a decidedly greater 

 proportion than in any other similarly large 

 area. The prices for which these black skins 

 sell in the London market prove them to be of 

 equal quality with those from any other area. 



Like other red foxes, the Alaskan species 

 digs its burrows, with several entrances, in some 

 dry secluded spot, where both male and female 

 share in the care of the young. In northern 

 wilds the food problem differs from that in a 

 settled country. There the surrounding wild 

 life is the only dependence, and varying hares, 

 lemmings, and other mice are usually to be had 

 by the possessor of a keen scent and an active 

 body. In summer many nesting wild-fowl and 

 their young are easy pre}', while heathberries 

 and other northern "fruits are also available. 



Winter brings a season of scarcity, when life 

 requires the exercise of every trained faculty. 

 The snow-white ptarmigan is then a prize to be 

 gained only by the most skillful stalking, and 

 the white hare is almost equally difficult to 

 secure. At this season foxes wander many 

 miles each day, their erratic tracks in the snow 

 telling the tale of their industrious search for 

 prey in every likely spot. It is in this season 

 of insistent hunger that many of them fall vic- 

 tims to the wiles of trappers or to the unscru- 

 pulous hunter who scatters poisoned baits. 



Fortunately the season for trapping these 

 and other fur-bearers in Alaska is now limited 

 by law and the use of poisons is forbidden. 

 These measures will aid in preserving one of 

 the valuable natural assets of these northern 

 wilds. 



GRAY FOX (Urocyon cinereoargenteus 



and its relatives) 



Gray foxes average about the size of common 

 red foxes, but are longer and more slender in 

 body, with longer legs and a longer, thinner tail. 

 They are peculiar to America, where they have 

 a wide range — from Xew Hampshire, Wiscon- 

 sin, and Oregon south through Mexico and 

 Central America to Colombia. Within this area 

 there are numerous geographic forms closely 

 alike in color and general appearance, but vary- 

 ing much in size; the largest of all, larger than 

 the red fox, occupying the Xew England States. 



Gray foxes inhabit wooded and brush-grown 

 country and are much more numerous in the 

 arid or semiarid regions of the southwestern 

 United States and western Mexico than else- 

 where. In parts of California they are far 

 more numerous than red foxes ever become. 

 They do not regularly dig a den, but occupy a 

 hollow tree or cavity in the rocks, where they 

 bring forth from three to five young each 

 spring. As with other foxes, the cubs are born 

 blind and helpless, and are also almost blackish 

 in color, entirely unlike the adults. The par- 



