The Logan County banner. [volume] (Logan, W. Va.) 1889-1903, 1889-09-26
REWARDS RUSES.
q Cute Old Fox That Is Too Smart
to Be Caught.
-"i5mping Jim's" Bewiidering Tactics In
Times of Danger-He Has Fun with His
Enemies While Giving Them
the slip.

as---es-4-s-.-44 -
was quite hunter in my youth
aud have seen actual strategy exhibit
cd by the fox and deer that would
have done credit to Caesar or Han
nibal. An old red fox used to live on
the shores Of Saginaw Bay which
used to kill my chickens. l have
chased him with hounds dozen times
and have set traps for him year after
year without success. He Is an old
settler and must be twenty-five or
thirty years old; he is still alive or
was last winter. He had his burrow
in sand hill on the shore OF the bay.
One day on getting up in the morning
found two game cocks killed In my
henncry and a light OF glass broken
out OF the window in it. inspected
the sash where she glass had been
broken and saw some red hair and I
knew who the culprit was at glance.
He had sucked tho blood from both
birds and had left the flesh entire.
This is the way that weasel or a
mink kills a chicken. and but for the
broken window and red hair should
have acquitted the fox OF these muir
dcrs from the manner OF tho death Of
his victims. At first was inclined to
acquit him, Notwithstanding these cir
cumstances, but my farmer, an ancient
Hibernian, insisted that it was the old
red fox. Why said /, "a fox kills
and eats the chickens. He does not
just make little hole in the mock and
suck the blood; y mink or weasel
does that way"
"Oh. that is nothing" said Pat; she
just killed the two birds that way SO
you would lay it to weasel"
Well. thought that with the heavy
breakfast he had eaten he could not
run very fast, and seonI pursued him
with two hounds on his truck. I took
a double-barreied shotgun and put it
in buggy and drove along up the
road. The fox scomed desirous OF
being chased that morning because
instead Of running toward his hole he
had gone off in an opposite direction.
E was driving pair OF colts and dare
not fire the gun from the buggy. as
they would be frightened and become
unmanageable. The fox seemed to
know this; he even seemed to know
that | had to tie the colts before
could shoot, because had not driven
a mile before he came right along
down the ditch, in which there was n
little water, passing within ten feet of
me- His tail was on his back and he
looked muddy and badly drabbled with
mud and water; but rs he passed on a
moderate trot thought 1 saw n
twinkle in his eye. as much as to say:
How is this for highp" or something
to that effect. stopped the horses;
the road was narrow and could not
turn around nor find any place to tie
my horses to, and was looking ahead
for q stump or bridge across the
bitches, which were quite deep on both
sides OF the road, when the fox passed
me again. going the same way that l
was drying. He was still In the ditch
and we kept side by side for twenty or
thirty rods. when he ran up a leaning
tree; he went up on the tree and
walked the whole length of it, gave
one tremendous jump and landed on
the top Of a brush pile. He then
ran completely around the brush pile
and sprang into the top Of d stump.
and from that to another one, aud
then to hollow stump; next he
jumped off and run around 1t; then
started and ran back to the ditch; then
up the road to the leaning tree again,
and this time he ran up the tree and
jumped off OF 1t into-a ditch some fifty
feet from where he had left 1t. He
followed this up a piece and jumped
into the road and ran up the ditch on
the other side and crawled into cul-
vert so small that dog could not get
into 1t; then he bolted out and retraced
his steps down the ditch to where he
came from and disappeared In the
woods, / drove along up piece and
got my horse hitehed, took my gun
and went back to where l had last
seen him. For long time could see
nothing OF him. By and by the hounds
:. came along on his track. They struck
the ditch and ran along up and down
IT, barlsed awhile at the roots OF the
leaning. tree, snuffed around the brush
heap, smelled the hollow stump over,
and when they came to the culyert
they fairly howled with delight, as II
they had him, till, finally taking a
vide circuit they found out that he had
been fooling with them.
In an open country the greyhound
will catch.a fox easy enough, and many
other hounds can -outrun him; In fact,
think tn t most hounds can outrun
the fox in an open country in q
r straightaway race. But, inthe woods,
II the race Is long, 1t is simply ques-
Aitn Of endurance. The fox has the
advantagein the woods. He Is smaller
. and more agile than the hounds. The
foY.knows that it is question OF en-
dnrance, and consequently all these
capersNof his which have, related did
nosoccupy over Ave minutes Of his
time, but they put the dogs at fault and
detained them from ditssn " twenty
minutes.