Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1895-05-15
SLY REYNARD.
CHE FOXIS AMERRY BEAST AND
A BOLD FREEBOOTER.
Restless, Alert and Full of Resource
His Career is Often Short-Lived,
but His Existence is n Hap
py-GO-Lucky Ono.

LII is," said the naturalist in
the New York Sun. "They
know him only by reputation and that
ls chicken-thief, which he is. But
he has lots of points, 1 tell you. A
merry, sly dog is reynard. All sum.
ner he lives in luxurious ease, roam.
] ing the woods and sauntering by the
pearly brooks, or basking in the noon
lay sun.
'tHe loves fish; and going down t.
he stream he waits till he spies plump
rout. It's NIL over in twinkle. A
cap, q snap, and off he trots with his
uicy morsel. A stupid crawfish
J moozes by his hole near the waters
edge. Reynard drops his tail in the
water and tickles him with it. The
fingered crustacean comes out of his
hiding place and is seized and crushed,
lrmor and all. When the ripening
,orn is ready to drop, and the luscious
fruits have reached their maturity, and
Ill nature is plethoric with ripening
| tullness, then Master Fox is in clover.
rimid rabbits prick up their ears and
:un, unconscious of danger, along the
! hillside; the Quails skulk noiselessly
IN the wheat stubble; birds pour forth
their notes of praise-and he catches
hem all. He loves fruits, stealthily
,tealing into orchids, where apples and
plump pears tempt, and in the vine.
gard he fairly revels in grapes. Hi
cubs grow fat and saucy. He shows
hem how to pilter honey, and when
the busy bees have laid up winter
store he crawls to the hives near the
garden fence and jumping up to the
small opening licks the sweet dropi
with pure delight. Out come the
'tinging, humming honey-makers, and
,ettle like pail on his thick pelt (; but
he doubles up in a twinkling and roll
ing over and over crushes them by thu
core and eats them as a relish.
Cunning? No animal beats him.
Look at his brainy head. His delicate
.ars-broad below to catch every
,ound from the highest note of the
,hrill warbler to the low grooming o:
:he cricket, or the distant murmur o;
storm, or the fevered pants of the
prancing hounds, and tapering sc
sharply to q point that they can shape
themselves to every wave of air that
makes the tiniest rustic of noise. Note
The crafty calculation and foresight OF
The low, flat brow. What a nose !!
Now full of resolute purpose pointing
straight forward, and anon turning
I'D with concentrated malice and scorn.
The eye, deep set, a regular robbers
.ye, lacking the soft beauty of the
iimid deer, or the fascinating glare of
The cats, yet it trembles with modest
humility or glares with murderous
rage, flashing fire and vengeance. En-
srgy and self-control speak in the thin,
cynical lips, and the mouth opens
from ear to ear. He can leap, crawl,
run and swim with the velocity OF
lightning, and his wiry body is carried
30 noiselessly along that scarce a trace
is left. His delicate footballs echo no
response even among the dead leaves
Of the forest. His walk is treacherous,
his glance sinister. Seizing bunch
Of grain in his mouth, he will swim
into the midst of flock of ducks ani
,eize the plumpest for dinner.
"He will feign death like 'possum
and even the hounds teeth and the
flash of gunpowder have failed tc
arouse him. A farmer surprised one
in a hen-roost. Believing that the
fox was dead from over-eating the
farmer kicked the stiffened body or
the floor, picked it up by the tail and
flung it out in the barnyard. In .
iiffy the fox gathered up his legs AM
escaped.
'.He is voracious, is reynard. Whei
iunger-pressed, and gaunt and lean
from starvation, he'll not refuse ser.
pents and toads and moles and rats.
He has been known to attack and kill
young calves and lambs, and if the sea.
shore is near will revel in oysters and
shellfsh. A group of rabbits are feed
ing in a clover patch. He'll crawl
along, nibbling the juicy flowers until
near enough to make a grab. Hell
stalk bird with his hind legs dragging
behind him, until near enough to
make q spring. How farmers dread
his inroads in the poultry yard. Fas-
ten the yard up tight and he will bur.
row q winding passage into the ground
beneath and suddenly appear among
the drowsy chickens and stupid geese,
whose shrill and alarmed cries arouse
the farmer from his bed to sally forth
finding all safe. Then the fox will
sneak back and pack away the plump
>st pullet or the fattest goose.
February is the month when rey.
nard goes a-wooing, and wide range
he takes, flirting and toying with any
vixen that chances in his way. It i,
fully sixty days before mamma clear.
the brush all out of her burrow and
brings forth her young, from three to
six at litter. 1t will be fully month
before the sharp-nosed cubs begin to
play and gambol about the doorway o.
their home. Perhaps it will be at the
root Of an old tree, beneath ledge OF
rocks or in the hollow of dead tree
trunk or burrow with several en-.
frances in the sand or loan. Tell-tale
chicken bones and feathers and fur
strewn about the entrance speak OF
many a hen-roost robbed or of foolish
rabbits and overconfident grouse that
have furnished food for the ever-hun.
cry cubs. The mother fox faithfully
feeds her young and boldly steals te
support them. She knows, as all sports.
men know, that the hounds will moi
follow her while she has family de
pending upon her.
ga merry, never-say-die life doe
the fox lead, indeedl 1t may be q
abort one, for traps and snares are
many, hunters are many and the scent
of the hound is keen. But reynard
rollicks and roysters and PLAYS The