The Topeka state journal., 1900-12-15

fox will quietly put her on his visiting
list, and some 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 II he can't
quite reach the hen he will make her
SO nervous that she Will probably hy,
and come blundering to the ground in
the darkness. The fox cubs will be in
troduced 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
sion 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 believe
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 nose and ears as
well before he will believe it, This is
is caught this way, sometimes, but not
often enough to warrant anyone's sit
ting up to wait for him.
But the barnyard is only one Oh 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 chipmunks burrow, and
waits patiently until the proprietor puts
in an appearance. At other times he
scents his prey from a distance, and
after following 1t up in the manner OF
pointer dog, suddenly leaps upon 1t.
He prefers strategem to direct pursuit,
but when he cares to be bothered with
chasing anything. he can generally give
it pretty good run for its life.
He is a keen observer, too, and very
little goes on around him that he does
not know something about. AS he 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 him
self; 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 it be-
fore he jumped just as we'll as when
he wedged his sharp nose between his
paws and gObbled up the luchless little
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
face.
While he shows great ingenuity in
catching his prey, he shows still more
in avoiding capture himself In Eng
land, where fox-hunting is perhaps the
most charac cteristic sport OF the people,
there are innumerable stories Of the art
and cunning displayed by Reynard in
outwitting the dogs. He frequently mis-
leads them by doubling on his own
trail, and in localities near the coast he
will often travel for a long distance
through the surf. which of course de-
stroys 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 a
neat and often quite extensive burrow,
generally having two or three openinga
Here the young are born in February,
March or April. AS a rule there are
from four to six Of these youngsters
but occasionally there are as many as
seven. They are blind at birth and for
some time are covered with soft, woolly,
reddish -colored fur. When they are
very young the mother stays with them
most of the time, the father alone GO
ing out for the food. BY and by the
Young ones begin to come out of the
den on warm afternoons, to play about
and gain strength. and later. under the
watchfuI eye OF their mother, to prac-
tice hunting small game on their own
account. If taken young they make
most beautiful and interesting pets but
they should be given plenty of space
away from the house, as they have a
strong musky odor, which in hot
weather is quite trying at close quar-
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