File:Familiar wild animals (1906) (14583071308).jpg

Identifier: familiarwildanim00lott (find matches)
Title: Familiar wild animals
Year: 1906 (1900s)
Authors: Lottridge, Silas Alpha, 1863-
Subjects: Animal behavior
Publisher: New York, H. Holt
Contributing Library: The Library of Congress
Digitizing Sponsor: The Library of Congress

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THE FOX (HE fox is called the slyest and mostcunning of our common wild animals.From the time of earliest animal lore, toold Reynard, have been ascribed attributes whichwould lead us to believe him to be endowed withsomething that many are unwilling to concede to thelower animals,—something that seems more than mereinstinct, a something akin to reason. The fox is wily and cunning and sagacious, tosuch a degree that he taxes to the utmost the abilityof our best huntsmen. Even with the aid of trainedhounds and with a knowledge of the runway of thefox, the sportsmen are often eluded and outwitted bythe artful Reynard. Traps, deadfalls, and all sortsof devices are used for his capture, and his ability toescape them can but command a certain respect fromhis human pursuers, a respect which cannot be feltfor an animal like the opossum. In the shadowy depths of his mothers burrow, the baby fox first opens his eyes upon a world in which 20
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X o Q W HenW w The Fox 21 his part is to be a continual struggle; struggle notonly for daily sustenance, but a struggle to escape thesnares and pitfalls laid for him by his arch enemy—man. Among the fox kindred it is a survival ofthe fittest, combined with a wonderful developmentof hereditary habit, which has fostered, and in somecases multiplied, their race. When pursued by a hound, the fox may deceive itin several ways, such as doubling on his trail, walkingon fences, or wading in shallow water. The last ruseis by far the most effective. Nevertheless the huntingof the fox is most successfully accomplished by meansof the hound. In the Northern States the huntingseason begins in November; but the real sport comesa little later, when the ground is covered with a lightsnow, for then the hound can follow the trail moreeasily. A trail must be fresh if a dog is to follow itover the frozen ground with any degree of speed,and on a ploughed field it is almost hopeless. Perhaps a few reminis

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