10 Department Circular 135, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



after its liberation it was found back again on the hill near its cage, 

 and it remained in the vicinity until finally it fell into a post hole 

 and died. 



A red fox that had been kept on a ranch with cross and silver 

 foxes was turned loose, as its owner did not wish either to feed or 

 to kill it. The guard fence surrounding this ranch consisted of a 

 high board fence, the owner of the ranch living in a cabin within 

 the stockade. Every morning, almost invariably, when the stockade 

 door was opened the red fox was waiting to come in and visit its 

 former comrades. After a little while it began to dig a den near 

 the highest corner of the }^ard and spent about half an hour each 

 day at work upon it. Apparently this fox came back from pure 

 love of locality, as it received no feed at the ranch after its libera- 

 tion, and after spending about an hour at the ranch each day it 

 returned to the forest. Unfortunately for this fox its association 

 with man led it to follow trails and rob Indian snares of rabbits, 

 till finally its hide hung in an Indian Avigwam. 



FUR-ANIMAL PRESERVES. 



The attachment shown by animals for their accustomed range, their 

 appreciation of sanctuaries wherein they are safe, and the increase 

 shown by fur bearers that are Avell protected indicate that it is prac- 

 ticable to select large tracts of land of a suitable character and make 

 them permanent fur-animal j^reserves, where dens and feed will be 

 provided and the animals will be retained merely by their rations 

 and their local attachments. Such preserves would soon become 

 centers of radiation from which would come a constant overflow of 

 fur bearers. Private preserves may be used to obviate some of the 

 difficulties in the way of farming certain fur animals in small 3'ards, 

 either because of their failure to breed freely in confinement — as mar- 

 tens and fishers — or because the value of their skins is not sufficient to 

 pay returns on the cost of building yards and attending to their 

 daily needs, in which latter category fall skunks, raccoons, and 

 opossums. The Forest Service, ever alert to husband natural re- 

 sources, has proposed that National Forests be administered as fur- 

 animal preserves jointly by the Forest Service and the State game 

 officials for the benefit of the State. It estimates that the National 

 Forests of Colorado can be made to produce $100,000 worth of fur 

 annually and that the forests of Wyoming can be made to produce 

 as much as those of Colorado simply by conserving the wild animals 

 already there. The report in which this suggestion was made inci- 

 dentally brought out the fact that beavers are useful in storing 

 water, which keeps the trout streams running during the dry season. 

 In one instance cited, when the irrigation reservoirs had all been 

 drained during a protracted drought and crops were drying up, 

 beaver dams were opened on four different creeks in the mountains, 



