this fox several times at his, or her, 
hen killing. 
Before that summer, I used to think 
I knew something about traps and 
trapping. In my conceit, I even offered 
farm boys advice and instructions on 
trapping. I know better now. If you 
should ask me how to trap a gray fox, 
I would have to confess that I don’t 
know. I tried all the tricks I knew, or 
ever heard about, but Gray Fox sprang 
my traps, stole the bait and enjoyed 
| 
: ; game. 

At last, in desperation, I tried poison 
and they troubled me no more. Poison 
is never used here, so their education 
along this line was weak. Perhaps a 
H|| liberal use of it would, as among the 
| | western coyotes, soon make this ineffec- 
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GUNCRAFT 
By WILLIAM A. BRUETTE 
A modern treatise on guns, gun fit- 
ting, ammunition, wing and_ trap 
shooting. 
215 pages. Illustrated. Paper, $1.00; 
Cloth, $2.00. 


In writing to Advertisers mention Forest and Stream. 


H| | tive also. 
If this animal killed only what it 
could eat, it wouldn’t be so bad, but bad 
enough. But I have followed their noc- 
turnal hunting trails in the snow and, 
when food was plentiful, the evidence 
showed that they killed for the pure 
fun of it, leaving the dead bird or ani- 
mal in the snow. One that jumped in 
my chicken yard killed twelve big hens 
before being frightened away. The lust 
for killing is always present, although 
this fox eats a great deal of small fruit. 
It likes berries of all kinds. In Lower 
California, it visits the date palms for 
the fallen fruit. It eats wild plums, 
persimmons, pears, apples—anything in 
the line of fruit. In the winter here in 
New York, it haunts the orchards for 
rotten apples, even digging down 
through the snow for them. 
No need to worry about Gray Fox 
going hungry in the most severe win- 
ters. As soon as the crust will bear his 
weight, he visits the nearest farmhouse 
or village, raiding even the suburban 
sections of cities, where they pick up 
everything they can find, from aban- 
doned dog bones to the contents of the 
garbage can. The way this animal has 
adapted itself to civilization and the 
presence of its enemy, man, accounts in 
no small way for its rapidly extending 
range and increasing numbers. 
Game clubs throughout the East are 
convinced that unless the little gray 
killer is reduced in numbers, our small 
game is doomed. Where a professional 
gamekeeper and “varmint extermina- 
tor” cannot be hired by the year to 
clean the covers, the next best thing is 
to make it worth the while of profes- 
sional fox hunters and trappers to kill 
the gray fox. Ordinarily, the feminine 
demand for furs is sufficient to exter- 
minate any wild animals, but the gray 
fox is not in demand. 
This can be counteracted by paying 
a small bounty for each scalp. Some 
counties in Jersey pay as high as $3 a 
head. This, plus the price for the skin, 
makes it an object for the hunter and 
It will identify you. 
trapper to bother with this most elusive 
and cunning animal. 
Guarded by eternal vigilance, by 
sharp eyes, delicate hearing and a keen 
nose, together with a natural inborn 
suspicion of man and his ways, the 
gray fox will grow more numerous 
yearly, unless prompt steps are taken 
to check him. 

P. DUTTON & COMPANY have 
published an eighth and revised 
reprint of Small-Boat Sailing by E. F. 
Knight. Mr. Knight has earned a repu- 
tation in yachting circles of being a 
skipper of the most daring character, 
and he has set forth in this volume his 
many years’ experience in the manage- 
ment of the smaller yachts and general 
instructions on sailing and cruising on 
sea and river. 
The work is primarily intended for 
the use of the tyro who is a lover of the 
sea and whose ambition it is to be the 
entire crew of his own little boat and 
not for those who are the possessors of 
fully equipped and luxurious sailing 
vessels. Neither does the author envy 
this latter class of yachtsmen, for he 
tells us in his opening chapter: 
“ . . ‘The smaller the vessel, the better 
the sport,’ has long been a maxim of 
mine.” 
One cannot help but feel that the di- 
dactical intent of Mr. Knight’s book is 
nothing more or less than a means to 
an end—a medivm by which to instil in 
the hearts of the amateur skipper a 
wholesome and a“ectionate pride in 
handling and keepin his craft in a sea- 
manlike manner, an: .bove all to incul- 
cate a spontaneous ; ‘d abiding love of 
the sea. 

Did you ever follow a fox 
trail over wooded hills when 
the earth is covered with a 
blanket of snow? In the 
winter nature is an open 
book—she has no secrets for 
those who understand her 
ways. 
In the February number, 
Edwin Hobson will take us 
into the white uplands, along 
twin fox trails, and in a 
charming manner he will tell 
**A Story in White’’ 

