FUR ANIMALS 



1389 



Thus foxes of the genus Vulpes may have three kinds of pelts: (1) 

 The common red fox, which is primarily red or fulvous with a mixture 

 of gray or brown except for restricted black markings on the feet and 

 ears, a white area at the end of the tail, and certain white-banded 

 hairs on the back and rump; (2) the typical cross fox, in which black 

 predominates on the feet, legs, and under parts, v hile red or fulvous 

 overlying black covers 

 most of the head, shoul- 

 ders, and back; and (3) 

 the black (silver) fox, 

 which carries no red or 

 fulvous, the entire pel- 

 age being dark at the 

 base and heavily or 

 lightly overlaid with 

 the banded guard hairs 

 that produce the 

 silvery appearance. 

 These guard hairs are 

 not entirely white but 

 are black with a white 

 band, and some are en- 

 tirely black. Foxes of 

 the third group vary 

 from animals that are 



almost entirely silver Figure 5. — Litter of pups resulting from cross-breeding 

 to those that are en- a silver with a red fox. 



tirely black except for 



a few white-banded guard hairs on the back and rump. The fur trade 

 recognizes five classes of silver fox pelts, graded according to the per- 

 centage of silver, as follows: Full, three-quarters, half, one-quarter, 

 and slightly silver or dark. 



It is believed that what are called standard silver foxes, carrying 

 a factor for silver and black color, were found naturally in many parts 

 of Canada. Few if any of these foxes migrated into Alaska. On the 

 other hand, the progeny of Alaskan silver foxes, also carrying a factor 

 for the silver and black color, probably traveled southward over the 

 mountain range and spread over a large part of Canada. Neither the 

 Alaskan nor the standard silvers migrated to any extent south of the 

 Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River. The indications are, 

 however, that some foxes possessing either or both of these factors 

 for silver and black must have migrated or occurred naturally south 

 into the northern parts of the States bordering on the Great Lakes. 



In the early days of fox farming, red and cross foxes captured in the 

 wild were bred to produce silvers. As more silver foxes became avail- 

 able, they replaced the red and cross foxes on ranches, and silver foxes 

 were bred together to produce silvers. As time went on foxes that 

 would breed true for silver were developed and it became generally 

 understood that silver foxes produced from silver fox parents would 

 always breed true. Later on, however, when silver foxes originating 

 in Canada were bred to silver foxes from Alaska, the young produced 

 proved to be crosses and not silvers. 



