THE DOMESTICATED SILVER FOX. 



21 



From the time the cubs are born until they are two or three weeks 

 old constant care must be taken to prevent losses in this manner. 

 Any unusual sight, sound, or odor, by day or night, is liable to alarm 

 a vixen and cause her to maltreat her young. The best way of 

 dealing with a worried vixen is to shut her with her cubs in the den 

 for several hours or until she becomes pacified. If she is disturbed 

 by the proximity of other foxes, as sometimes happens, her view 

 should be limited by boarding in the lower 2 or 3 feet of her yard. 



CARE OF YOUNG. 



Young foxes are subject to other troubles which, unless corrected, 

 often prove fatal. They may be infested with external or internal 

 parasites, or their mothers may not have enough milk to nourish 

 them properly. It is very important that their condition from day 

 to day be known. But the great value of the cubs and their danger 

 from the irritability of their mothers generally cause the keeper to 

 refrain from looking into the dens. By watching the behavior of 

 the mothers they judge whether the young are doing well. It has 

 been demonstrated by at least one progressive keeper that this uncer- 

 tainty is by no means necessary. Foxes are not excited by routine 

 events. By giving them large two-room dens, similar to the one 

 shown in figure 9, and alwaj^s feeding them in the outer compart- 

 ment, they are led to expect the entrance of the keeper as the regular 

 preliminary to each meal, and even to welcome it. When the keeper 

 enters, they, of course, depart, leaving him free to look into the inner 

 den. He should not touch the cubs unless they need attention. 



The young are small and weak at first, and their mother remains 

 with them almost constantly for the first three days. They grow 

 rapidly and usually begin to appear outside the den in about a month. 

 When G weeks old they eat more or less solid food. After this they 

 may be weaned. Many breeders leave the weaning entirely to the 

 vixen unless she is becoming emaciated. A decided advantage in 

 weaning cubs when they are 6 or 8 weeks old is that when the keeper 

 controls their food he can more easily eradicate the intestinal worms 

 which usually infest them. Care should be taken to keep early- 

 weaned cubs clean and dry. In case of accident to a mother fox, 

 cubs may be reared by cats almost from birth. Not more than two 

 cubs should be given to one cat. After they are about 3 weeks old 

 their teeth become large and sharp enough to lacerate their foster 

 mothers, and they must be reared by hand. 



The taming and training of the foxes when pups tends to the 

 production of adult animals which are much more valuable for breed- 

 ing purposes. That attempts to tame pups may meet with some 

 degree of success is well shown in the illustration on the title page. 



