Evening star., 1896-07-18
FATE OF A wH1Tn-FACED FOX.
a Maine Forest Had to He Burned ia
Protect the Hen Yards.

a Maine Forest Had to he Burned to
Protect the Hen Yards.
From the New York Sun.
The first wild Strawberries were turning
pink cheeks up to the sun when Fred Law
son. going to a back field to repair hay
barn. dug five young foxes from pile OF
chair that had fallen through the seams In
the barn floor. Two of these youngsters
were of a common. dirty red color. and
looked the way all baby foxes do, but the
other three had shining silver-gray coats
that marked them as the aristocracy of the
vulpine race. That day he built a large box
OF boards and stout wire netting. and putting
mis- five captives inside. placed 1t out on the
lawn near the orchard. When he carried
fresh milk to his pets the next morning he
found that some animal had eaten hole
In the wire netting and carried away the
three silver-grays. leaving the two COM
mon foxes still in the cage. While he was
mending the hole with new wire a silver
gray fox came sneaking toward the pen.
proving to his mind that 1t was the mother
returning for her less favored offspring.
As soon as these facts were related to fox
pestered farmers they knew it was the
white-faced fox that had caused the trouble
and that she and her three valuable chill
dren were in hiding close by. Powder was
bought by the keg and shot came in on the
stage by the bagful. while every boy for
five miles around went hurrying across lots
carrying new steel traps. which they set
and cunnfngly concealed in every hole and
runway where foxes would be likely to 60
Day after day gunners went through the
woods looking for one fox, but shooting at
everything they saw moving. A flock of
gray guinea fowls. which Anderson had
turned loose on Beech Knoll to keep the
hawks away, were all shot in q week by
gunners. who thought they were foxes and
a gray and fawn-colored Jersey calf, which
Tom Gilbert had brought all the way from
New York. lost hind leg owing to the same
delusive zeal. During the two weeks be-
tween the middle of June and July l it was
unsafe for man in a gray coat to travel
on any of the roads, and persons who pos
sessed gray heads either had their hair
closely cropped or dyed in order to avoid
Eerfous accidents. Work Of all kinds was
neglected. and the great shooting match
was on every day.
some time late In June gunner who used
paper Wadding in his muzzle-loader shot a
hedge hog up In the woods near the Bradley
line. and the fire on the paper catching in
the underbrush. set the forest ablaze 80
mat great deal of valuable pine timber
was ruined. The fire spread to Eddington
and Clifton. doing more damage than ali the
ioxes that have been on earth since the
days OF Samson. On the morning of July 4
when the clouds began to pour in over the
whales 8 back and churn together above the
meadows. house owners were happy in the
hope that rain would soon come and when
noon arrived, bringing a sharp downpour.
the white-faced fox was forgotten in the
general Thanksgiving which followed the
extinguished conflagration.
sunday afternoon two gunners who had
80 far recovered from the effects of the hard
cider as to get out were walking through
the lately burned district. They had passed
out Of the pine swamps and were climbing
q steep knoll that had lately been covered
with a thicket Of black spruces Looking
among the rusty and blackened trunks, they
saw what they thought was a dead dog
lying at the base of a tall ledge Turning it
over, they found the under side was covered
with long and silky hairs Of silver-gray
color. Then they knew the white-faced fox
had perished in the flames which her
enemies had started, and that she would
vex their hen yards no more.