18 
BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
Foxes should be fed regularly twice a day, morning and evening. 
This is especially important in hot weather, as whatever is left from 
the first meal will spoil before time for the next. By giving at each 
feeding only the proper quantity, the injurious effects of gorging can 
be avoided. Overfeeding is more dangerous than underfeeding. 
Fat animals are not prolific breeders. Eight or ten ounces of meat 
is sufficient for one meal. 
BREEDING. 
Foxes breed only once a year, the mating season occurring in 
February or March, and lasting anywhere from a few hours to two 
or three days; it is 
often indicated by a 
brownish discharge. 
The period of gesta- 
tion is about 51 days, 
the young being born 
in April or May. The 
number of young in a 
litter varies from two 
to eight, the average 
number born to adult 
parents being four. 
In the wild state 
foxes are monoga- 
mous, and while the 
young are being 
reared the male duti- 
fully forages for 
them. In captivity, 
however, one male 
sometimes has been 
mated successfully 
with two or even 
three females. In 
certain cases this 
may be desirable, but 
very often it results 
Breeders generally prefer to keep their 
Fig. 16. — Iron posts and concrete foundations for yard fence, a, and 
guard fence, b. Note the 18-inch overhangs, two on the yard fence, 
one of which (5 feet from the gound) is to prevent foxes from climbing 
to the top and the resulting injury from the greater fall. 
in no increase whatever, 
foxes in pairs. 
Males are removed from the breeding yards for a part of each year, 
the length of their exile depending upon the relations of the pair. 
If they are quarrelsome, it is best to separate them soon after the 
female becomes pregnant. If, on the contrary, they agree and show 
attachment to each other, it is wise to keep them together until the 
cubs are four weeks old, but after that the male is likely to bite them 
during scrambles for food at meal times. While the vixen is devoting 
