The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1900-03-23

the hole and the first thing he did was
to grab at the fox's tail. The dog had
a good hold and stripped the hair from
the tail from the body to the end. When
the fox came out the dog grabbed him
by the neck The fox clinched his
teeth on the flesh of the dogs cheek,
and they had a good fight The dog
let go his hold on the neck OF the fox
and put both feet against the fox TO
break the hold of the fox on his check.
The fox hung on and Seward took the
shovel and pried the jaws of the fox
apart with the handle. When the hold
of the fox had been loosened the dog
grabbed him by the neck again and
shook him terribly. After the shaking
the dog let the fox fall to the ground.
There amt any more fight in that
fox, called Seward, and to all appear.
ances there was not. The fox was lying
on the ground limp and lifeless, its
tongue out and it's eyes about half
closed.
You think there amt any life in
him, do your I said to Seward Well,
you just put the hoe handle under him
and give him a toss
Seward did so and threw the fox
into the air. The fox landed on all
fours and was off in an instant over
the edge of the hill. let loose the dog
1 had been holding and he went after
the fox at hot pace. AS we had placed
our guns against tree We could not
get to them in time to shoot the fox.
The dog ran the fox up around the hiils
into rayine on the other side and out
again and over the brow of another
hill. The dog and the fox were just
disappearing over the other hill when
Seward and I mounted the hill on the
other side of which we had just been
digging We could see that the dog.
was gaining and the chances We're that
he would catch the fox. We hurried
across the ravine and the hill and soon
came upon the dog and the fox locked
ton fl7av. IN n t7nH ffora
fox by the neck and-the fox had the dog
by the cheek the same as in the first
fight. This time we had our guns and
soon shot the fox.
Foxes were very thick around Little
Falls in those days. 1 remember ex-
aiming fox track one day that had
a peculiar crease in the snow alongside
it at frequent intervals. l saw this
track on several occasions and it puz-
zled me a great deal. One day got
shot at a fox and wounded him in
the hip. He could not run fast and L
followed him to his hole. l set trap
at the mouth of that hole and waited
until he got into it. I went there once
a day and found that the trap had not
been disturbed. I concluded to leave it
and starve the fox out. On the eighth
day from the time l tracked the fox
to the hole found the fox in the trap.
The leg in which I had shot him was IN
very bad shape and the animal must
have suffered terribly. Around the back
of the fox I found a strap and this had
caused the peculiar crease in the snow
as the fox lowered his head. This fox
had evidently been a pet at one time or
another and the strap had been used
to tie him up.
ION one other occasion I got a fox
that had at an early period in his life
been a pet. When 1 was trying to skin
the animal by stripping the skin from
the back forward over the shoulders
and the head, l could not pull the skin
over the neck, try as hard as might.
I turned the skin back again and found
that he had on a collar. The collar was
skin tight around the neck; it had been
there a long time and the hair had
grown over it until it was concealed"