The enterprise-recorder. (Madison, Fla.) 1908-1933, 1909-04-15
&c Yes, sometimes


Did you ever see female fox alone
at her nest?'
" Yes; but old fox close by
In fact, that is the burden Of the
testimony of all the woodsmen with
whom | have talked on the subject.
They have observed certain facts which
. logically Interpreted, illustrate and en-
force the peculiarly homogeneous ma.
ture of the fox, Moreover, like a good
/ husband, as | believe him to be, the
fox has other excellent qualities, which
/ | have used in my story, as, for in
stance, what | call his Storage habit
Reynard Not a Thief.
with us, Of course, the fox has bad
name for the stealing of chicken. The
| blame that attaches to him for this
| habit Is out Of all proportion to what
| he actually does Instead of being a
nuisance to the farmer the fox is real.
~ a great help, since his chief prey.
what he really lives on, is the field
| mouse. | have watched the foxes on
| the prairies through a long.range tele.
scope catching the mice in their nests
In the long grass, and / know from
other observations and testimony that
mice are the chief article of food for
the fox, Fancy what the result would
be to our farmers and their crops II
II were not for this fondness for a
mouse diet on the part of foxes and
wolves! The fact is that there are
very few animals in our woods that
are really noXious. We ought to pre-
serve all our native animals from ey.
junction, while banishlng as much as
possible such nuisauces as the rat and
me sparrow. The greatest nuisance a
all is the domestic cat, which kills
more small game than all the poachers
put together-but it would probably be
dlticult to Danish the cat from the
United States"
Reynard is depicted, undoubtedly. az
thoroughly exemplary fox and hus.
band in the story which will bear his
name down to posterity But a glimpse
OF the long.necked, brown.and.black
geese amicably floundering among the
leaves on the lawn in front of the pic.
turesque house which forms the center
OF things at Wyndgoul recalled the
claim for these birds to the possession
OF an even more homogeneous mono
gamy than the fox. After all, II these
claims are true Reynard merely VOWS.
like most mortals who undertake this
particular contract until death do us
part" But the goose, according to his
TpDOrtad intarnrato tior % tbo n. ~.
mandments. incorporates no limiting
clause when he goes through the cere-
mony Of entering upon the marriage
state. 1t is now and forever" with
these dauntless animals when they do
decide upon wedlock. Curiosity as to
the authenticity of this bit of anserine
sociology suggested a query.
Yes answered Mr.. Seton, family
times are peculiarly strong in the case
Of the goose. OF course there may be
individual variations from one main
race-habit, as occurs among all ami
mails; but as a rule have found that
the goose practises a more rigid mon.
ogamy than even the fox or the pigeon.
Most Of these geese at Wyndygoul, are
descendants from one couple, brought
here when took the place eight years
ago, and the original gander is still
recognized as the grandfather Of the
flock by the others. They come and
go as he calls them, and in order to In
sure the return of the flock from any
place to which its various members
might be tempted to fly | have clipped
this patrlarchal gander's wings-and
his devoted grandchildren, never leav.
ing him, never leave Wyndygoul for
any appreciate distance or time.
The Ever.FaithfuI Goose.
LAS for the extreme sentiments Of
monogamy which have claimed for
wild geese | can cite one clean-cut In.
stance from this very flock. Three or
four years ago the husband of a female
goose died. For year and half af.
ter that event l tried to induce the
widowed goose to take another mate,
but without success. She remained !
single during that time and declined to
enter upon any intimacies with any of !
her companions Seeing that 1t was
hopeless to overcome her fidelity to her |
dead mate then gave her to the Bronx |
Zoo-and l hlye not heard from Mr.. |
Hornaday since then as to whether she |
has persisted IN her desire to remain |
single-but l ran youch for the year
and a half of faithful widowhood. -