Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1908-09-03


ing business,
BACK YARD AS A PRESERVE.
Half an acre will accommodate ak
pairs of foxes, which are quite as many
as a beginner should attempt to handle
An ordinary back yard is not quite suf-
| ficient, but little more room is needed.
Islands are we'll suited to the needs of
''blue" foxes in Alaska, but silver foxes
need close personal attention, which
can be better given in restricted in
closures.
The Enclosures should be of wooven
| wire fencing, of two-inch mesh-young
foxes can wriggle through an opening
two inches square-and should be ten
feet high and sunk into the ground two
feet, an additional two feet being al
lowed at the top for an inward over
| hang, to prevent the animals from
Ginning out. Foxes are excellent
| climbers. One pair will require two
such pens, each thirty feet square. be-
| cause the male and female are kept
| separate most of the time; and in each
pen there must be small house or
shelter-box, made after the fashion of
a dog-kennel, four of five feet square,
and with an entrances six inches
square. There should be an outer
court, similarly fenced, to prevent cur:
ious visitors or stray domestic animals
from annoying the foxes; and if pos
sible, there should be a few trees or
shrubs in the outer court, to afford
shade and seclusion.
The outer court should be kept al
ways locked, and the inner inclosure
should be visited only by the regular
keepers, to whom the foxes are accus-
tanned. They rarely become tame, and
are constantly in state of fear. 1t is
only by the greatest care that relations
of confidence can he established be
tween them and their keepers. Even
the offsprings of several generations
reared in captivity remain wild. On
the other hand, they do not seem to be
otherwise than happy in confinement.
They play good deal, or lie stretched
in the sun. Cold weather has no ter
Rarely do they try to escape.
Close personal attention is a prime
requisite in the business of fox farming.
The animals breed once year. and
the mating season is in February and
March, the young being born in April
and May. They are from two to eight
young at birth. In December or
January the male and female are put
together and in March or April they
are separated. The male fox is a
model parent, and has even been
known to climb high fence to carry
food to his offspring, but his presence
excited the female, and it is best to
give him quarters of his own.
The young when they are six weeks
weeks old begin to come out and play,
and to lap a little milk and take an oc-
casional bit of solid food. They breed
when less than year. 1t is recon,
mended that they be separated from
the mother as soon as they are weaned,
because it sometimes happens that,
owing to her anxiety in their behalf,
she fuses with them to such an extent
as to injure them.
Foxes are pretty nearly omnivorous.
In wild state they eat great variety
of frod, including mice, rabbits, birds,
and such insects as grasshoppers and
beetles. It is best to feed them, in
captivity, with some meat, table scraps,
} and even dog biscuit. But it is desir-
, able not to over feed them. Bones
with little meat on them are good for
J Reynard to gnaw A fair daily allow
ance is quarter of pound of meat
} and small handful of miscellaneous
J scraps. One of the most successful
breeders at the present time, gives to
each of his foxes quarter of a pound
? of meat and quart of skim-milk daily
{ Pension Increases.
The following pension increases
have recently been granted in this dis
( trict, represented by Capt. G. f. Bar
clay:
Q Jonathan Lennon, Mahaffey, to $15.
r Matthias Mayes, Snow Shoe, to $15.
J Mrs. Lestina M. Scott, Kane, to II.
Jacob Copenhaver, Smith Mills, to S12
Jonas Setter, Bradford, to S15.
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