550 



was called a silver fox, but probably was this species, was taken 

 near Emison, Knox County, in 1905. Prof. Van Gorder states that 

 it formerly occurred in Noble County, but is now rare or extinct. 

 ]\Ir. I. W. Burton, of Roselawn, and others familiar with the Kan- 

 kakee region, have told me that the gray fox never inhabited the 

 swamps, but that it has been known to occur in the higher woods 

 in that part of the State. At present I know of but two localities 

 in which these foxe^ still live, although there are doubtless others. 

 These places are th? rough, partially wooded hills along Willow 

 Creek in Ohio County and the rough land along the East Pork of 

 White River near Mitchell. 



Ilahits. — The gray fox is more retiring and shy in disposition 

 than its red cousin. It is a creature of the forest and is seldom 

 found where the timber has all been cut away. 



Exactly why these creatures should be driven out where their 

 red brethren still abound, is a question I can not fully answer. 

 They seem to have less cunning and to be quite unable to hatch up 

 plans for deceiving men and dogs in the way the red foxes do. 

 However, there seems to be something more, some innate hatred 

 of the cultivated field and open range, which drives them away be- 

 fore advancing civilization. In some ways they seem to have an 

 advantage over the red species, for they are more protectively col- 

 ored and their pelts are of less value. Stone and Cram say they 

 are equally swift, but there seems to be a general opinion among 

 Indiana hunters that they are not so swift and their more stocky 

 build also indicates this. 



According to Stone and Cram, the gray foxes seldom live in 

 burrows, but make their dens in hollow logs and old tree trunks. 

 This may have been the case with the gray fox of former days, 

 but it is not true in Indiana today. At the present time the dens 

 do not differ from those of the red fox, but they are never placed 

 out in the open fields as are those of the latter species. At Mitchell 

 I found a den not more than 150 yards from an inhabited house, 

 but it was in dense woods on top of a little knoll where there was 

 little likelihood of its being discovercul. Another den, likewise 

 near a house, was in the bottom of a sinkhole which seemed to have 

 connection with (juite an extensive cavern. Some hunters ran a 

 fox into this latter refuge; one night and attempted to dig it out, 

 })ut gave up the task when they discovered, after more than an 

 hour's work, that the den was in a rock lined cavern, too small for 

 ii man to enter, l)nt prol)al)ly of considerable l(Migth. 



