VULPES VULGARIS TENNSYLVANICUS. 
47 
dropping on the snow. After fiercely eyeing each other for a while, 
both become impatient — the former to seize his prey, and the latter 
to escape. At the first leap cf the Fox, the dog is upon him; with 
renewed vigor he seizes him by the throat, and does not loose his 
hold until the snow is stained with his blood, and he lies rumpled, 
draggled, with blood-shot eye, and frothy open mouth, a mangled 
carcass on the ground.”* 
Not infrequently the Fox, after leading his pursuers a long and tire- 
some chase, betakes himself to his hole. If this chances to lie with- 
in a ledge of rocks it is the safest of retreats, but if it be merely a 
burrow in the earth he is by no means secure, for the hunters (pro- 
vided they have enough energy and ambition left) repair to the 
nearest farm-house for spade and pick with which to dig out the luck- 
less beast. 
Hence Fox hunting, with us, can hardly be ranked among the 
most fascinating of sports; and those that indulge in it must have 
good pluck and hard muscle or they are apt to come out the worse 
for wear. Sic transit gloria mundi ! Having “ killed my Fox” I am 
not now easily seduced into this form of recreation. 
Foxes make rather pretty pets, and, when taken young, are easily 
tamed; but they are so deceitful and treacherous that they are not 
apt to gain one’s affection. 
The Fox makes its nest in caverns and ledges of rocks, in burrows 
in the earth, and occasionally in old stumps and hollow logs. From 
four to nine young are brought forth at a time, the usual period be- 
ing, with us, the latter part of March or first ot April. 
Family MuSTELIDaJ. Subfamily MUSTELIN/E. 
Note. — The Wolverine ( Gido luscus) is not now an inhabitant of 
the Adirondacks, and I have been unable to find amonq- the hunters 
and trappers of this region anyone who has ever seen it in our Wilder- 
* Quadrupeds of North America, Vol. I, 1846, p. 48. 
