Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-12-15
SOME WAYS OF BRER FOX.
He Is an 0bservant Creature, And His Way o'
Getting Over the Ground Is Unique.

He Is an 0b:ervant Creature, And His Way o
Getting Over the Ground Is Unique.
I was once half -jokingly assured by
an old fox-hunter that the red fox new
er ran; that he was blown along by the
wind, and just used his legs to guide
himself with, and after observing 6
good many foxes, I confess know Of
no active verb which adequately des
scribes their movements. Even a grey
hound is a clumsy, numbering anima
when compared with fox. Not that
greyhound cannot cover the grounc
faster, and there is certain lightness o.
foot in the wild creature which Is mo-
even suggested by any dog, unless Il
be a we'll poised and well-trained collie
A puff of reddish smoke or loose bal
Of tawny fur blown along close to, bu
not quite touching, the ground, would
suggest the movement of red fox al
nearly as anything can think of.
Our early education concerning this
animal usually begins with some nur'
sery rhyme, in which "Reynard" fig
ures as a poultry thief. In my owr
case, I remember, I was taught that
"a fox went out one winters night"
and that after an interesting series o!
adventures, in which he stole 1.-The gray
goose" and awakened the farmers
wife, he finally got back to his den
where
He and his wife ate the gray goose up
And the little ones picked the bones
In this, as in many other nursery
rhymes, there is as much truth as
nonsense, for no one can say that the
fox gets his information concerning
the poultry yard at second hand. He
studies the habits of the inmates per.
haps more carefully than the farmer
does. Particularly does he give atten-
ton to their bad habits. If some silly
little duckling is fond Of straying off
the fox knows 1t, and he won't forge,
that duckling. If some fool of a her
thinks it smart to roost outside in a
tree, instead of going into the coop, the
fox will quietly put her on the visiting
list, and some fine night, when she has
perched on a branch rather lower than
usual, he will call around to see her
He can leap to a considerable height
when he wants to, and even If he can't
quite reach the hen, he will make her
so nervous that she will probably fly
and come laundering down to the
ground in the darkness. The fox cubs
will be introduced to her later in the
evening, probably, and she will never
answer the roll call any more.
But. he is very cautious when out on
an expedition of this or any other kind
and the man who invented the express
ion "as cunning as a fox" knew what
he was talking about. Reynard dis
trusts everything, particularly man
and all his works. He will not even be-
lieve the unsupported testimony of one
of his own senses. If his eyes tell that
certain thing is "safe," he must
have the assurance of his ears and nose
as we'll before he will believe it. This Is
why he is so seldom caught in traps.
He is caught this way, sometimes, but
sitting up to wait for him.
But the barnyard is only one of his
many sources of food supply. He is
very fond of wild mice of different
kinds, rats. squirrels and rabbits.
These he catches in various ways.
Sometimes he lies concealed near the
mouth of woodchuck's or chipmunk's s
burrow, and waits patiently until the
proprietor puts in an appearance. AT
other times he scents his prey from a
distance, and after following it up, In
the manner of a pointer dog, suddenly
leaps upon it. He prefers strategem to
direct pursuit. but when he cares to be
bothered with chasing anything, ne can
generally give it a pretty good run for
| it's life.
He is a keen observer, too, and very
little goes on around him that he does
not know something about. Ashe passes
through a meadow his quick eye marks
the movement of each clump of grass.
and he makes a mental note of the
cause of the movement. THAT one
was moved by the wind" he says to
himself; that was an earthworm," but
that Dumping suddenly sidewise and
bringing his forepaws down close to-
gether, was a mouse" And so, of
course, it proves to be; he knew 1T be-
fore he jumped, just as we'll as when
he wedged his sharp nose between his
paws and gobbled up the luckless little
rodent which was dead before he had
time to squeak. He catches grasshop-
pers and crickets, too, by leaping upon
them with his paws. and he sometimes
rushes out into shallow water and
seizes wild fowl lying asleep on it's
surface.
While he shows great ingenuity In
catching his prey he shows still more
in avoiding capture himself. In Eng
land, where foxhunting is perhaps the
most characteristic sport of the people,
there are innumerable stories Of the
art and cunning displayed by Reynard
in outwitting the dogs. He frequently
miseads them by doubling on his own
trail, and In localities near the coast
will often travel for a long distance
through the surf. which Of course des-
troys the scent at once.
The American red fox does the same
thing. Like his slightly smaller Eng
lish cousin he has wonderful endurance,
and he. too. can give the hunters and
hounds a long chase and often beats
them out at the end.
The home Of the red fox Is usually
neat and often quite extensive burrow,
generally having two or three openings
Here the young are born in February,
March or April. AS a rule there are