12 
BULLETIN 301, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
31 
Fig. 7.— Ground plan of a double-walled den. 
recently adopted by several fox owners is shown in figure 16. It has 
a concrete foundation 4 feet deep, 9 inches thick at the bottom, and 
6 inches thick at the top, and projects slightly aboveground. In 
this are embedded posts of 1-inch galvanized-iron pipe. Tie-rails 
of f-inch pipe connect these posts at the 
top and also just above the foundation. 
Wire netting for fox-yard fences has 
been in use from the beginning. It 
allows free circulation of air and per- 
mits the animals to take an active in- 
terest in their surroundings and in one 
another. The netting ordinarily used 
is like that for poultry 
runs, except that the 
wire is heavier. It 
maybe of 2-inch mesh 
in 14, 15, and 16 
gauge. The lower part of a fence should be made of the heaviest 
wire obtainable, the lighter grades being used for the middle and upper 
parts. As very young foxes are likely to become entangled in 2-inch 
netting or even to go through it, many fox breeders use only H-inch 
mesh. Those having 2-inch mesh usually reinforce it from 6 inches 
above the surface of the ground to 6 
.inches below it with boards or a strip 
of 1-inch netting. 
The disposition of foxes to take an 
adversary at a disadvantage has led 
to serious injuries when adjoining 
yards were separated by only a single 
partition of coarse netting. In a 
number of instances a climbing animal 
has had its foot seized, pulled through 
the fence, and held by the occupant 
of the next yard until its frantic strug- 
gles to escape resulted in a badly man- 
gled leg. Such accidents can be 
avoided by making double-walled par- 
titions, the walls separated by at least 
4 inches, or single-walled partitions of 1-inch netting or of boards. 
The necessity of erecting double partitions is overcome, however, by 
use of the plan illustrated in figure 14. 
The height of a fence depends somewhat upon the depth of the 
snowfall. In Maine and the Maritime Provinces the usual height is 
9 or 10 feet, while in Labrador it is 12 feet. To prevent foxes from 
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Fig. 8. — Vertical cross section of double- 
walled den. 
