Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1934-05-13

AouoC1 llCCu W NC
A recent investigation in England
shows that red foxes there consume q
larger per cent of rabbit and mice and
rat meat than the McAtee report
reveals.
Asked about the history of the red
fox in America, a scientist of the
Biological Survey said: They COM
prise a group Of circumpolar distribu-
ton. being found in the northern parts
Of Europe, Asia and America, and are
represented in North America by q
number of closely related races.
Red foxes have been abundant in
northern North America throughout
the historical period, but there is
much evidence that in the Eastern
and Central States, from Southern
New York southwark. they have occu-
pied the areas where they are now
found since the settlement Of the
country by Europeans.
ALLEN, writing in 1876, quotes from
Forest and Stream to the effect that
the first red fox killed in Maryland
OF which any record exists, was taken
in 1889.
Bailey, writing in 1895 Of the
region about Washington, states that
the red fox first appeared in Mont
gomery County between 1913 and
1902"
The red fox spreads from Maryland
to Virginia and south.
mo satisfactory record is at hand
concerning the origin of the red fox
in Virginia where it is now quite
generally distributed and fairly com
mon," said report from the Depart
ment OF Agriculture, but the animals
were probably imported for hunting
purposes. while emigration from more
heavily stocked sections to the north
ward may have contributed to the
stock there"
The red fox will not remain in a
country where he cannot have a very
substantial, safe den. No doubt the
abundance Of these animals in parts
OF Maryland and Virginia is due to
the fact that they feel secure when
pursued, knowing that they can go
to earth at almost any stage Of the
chase. Hunters in low, fiat sections
have planted reds, but without sue
cess. Artificial dens have been re-
fool Brer Red Fox.
For many years Sandy Springs was
center Of fox hunting. There some
of the best foxhound blood in Amer
lea was developed. The late John C.
Bentley. known throughout the South
as a breeder and hunter of well-bred
dogs, writing a quarter of a century
ago, said:
1T is not out of the way in a
history Of the Maryland hound to
chronicle the fact that to Maryland
is due the thanks of fox hunters for
the red fox. In an old print Of 1873
there is an interesting account Of this
fact. One August evening, in what
is now Talbot County on the Eastern
Shore, eight prosperous tobacco
planters were discussing the relative
merits of the red and gray fox. Four
of these hunters had hunted the willy
red fox in old England and rather
cast imputations upon the gray fox
hunters. The discussion waxed SC
warm, that to prove their contention
one of these planters offered the use
Of his tobacco boat, the Monocacy
the captain being instructed to bring
over eight pairs of red foxes upon his
next voyage, which he was successful
in accomplishing. These foxes were
turned out in several parts of the
country and soon began to multiply.
THE red fox was first seen on this
side of Chesapeake Bay after the ire
mendous hard Winter of 1880, when
the bay was frozen over from Novem-
Der to April. 1t took them 20 years
to work their way up into Hartford
Baltimore, Howard, Montgomery and
Carroll Counties-pre-eminen the
home of the red fox.
THE advent of the red fox COM
PEELED fox hunters to change their
ideas as to what constituted a good
hound"
Once arrived, the English fox made
himself part Of the wild life Of the
territory covered by these five Maryland
counties. He found there a network
Of rivers. cutting their way to the
sea, through rocky bluffs, whose banks
were densely covered with laurel and
other evergreen shrubs, the outer
timber, beyond the hills and knobs,
being mixture of hardwood and pine
This rough, rolling country abounds
in deep dens, in which the fox is safe
from hound and hunter.
According to the Bible, foxes have
holes" That was said of those in
Palestine, but it is equally true of this
country. The red fox will either make
or appropriate a den.
The ground hog undermines the
earth and the fox moves in This
has been so ever since the beginning
of things.
Every Spring, just after the mating
season is over, female foxes clean out
the dens they expect to use for their
young. Wise hunters can tell weeks
ahead of time where families of reds
are to be found later by the condition
of the holes generally occupied. Seven
cubs Is an average litter.
The red fox is perfect provider If
left alone to carry out her carefully
laid plans. When her babies first
come she sticks close to her den, but
as the days pass she goes out and
gradually widens her foraging circle,
until the little ones are able to hunt
for themselves. Experienced hunts
men say that separate den Is found
for each cub, and there he is expected
to stay. The father fox is kind to his
good wife, and children, helping to
feed and protect them from their
many enemies.
In this section of the country it is
a difficult task to catch young red
foxes, for they are deposited in dens
that are almost inaccessible unless
one would devote hours or days to
tearing them up. When large enough
TO climb to the surface, and play and
feed in the open, they are most sensi-
tive to warnings of danger. 1t would
require a great deal of cunning and
stealth to beat one of the tiny fellows
to his den. Now and then the mother
sees fit to move her den, and carries
her babies by their heads, one at a
time, to a more satisfactory place.
Any unusual activity or performance
near the den will cause her to go else
where. The burning of a bit of cloth
or leather at the opening of the fox
home causes alarm, and the young are
carried away at the first opportunity.