THE FOX
(Canis vulpesorVulpes alopex)
THE fox enjoys a well-earned reputation for cunning and shrewdness, and especially for its capacity to adapt itself to changed conditions and its presence of mind and resourcefulness in emergencies. Nevertheless, it is possible to deceive even a fox. A well-known American naturalist relates, for instance, how he attracted a fox to within a few yards of his own position by imitating the squeaking of a field-mouse. For some distance he came cautiously skulking between the big tussocks of coarse grass, but for the last fifty yards he had to traverse open sward. When he had got half this distance he became suspicious, and began to think that the motionless, squatting naturalist was not a stump or a rock, whereupon, it is curious to note, that he at once ran to leeward of the suspicious object, thus showing that foxes, like many other animals, trust more to their sense of smell than to their sight.
In spite of the fact that everybody knows a fox by sight, there is a difference of opinion among naturalists as to whether the fox of North America is specifically identical with the European animal. The differences between them are, however, so small and insignificant that the most sensible course is to regard the fox as a circumpolar species, with several local races, both in the Old World and in North America. To attempt anything in the way of description of such a well-known animal would be altogether superfluous, although it may be well to mention that the tip of the tail is always white or whitish; and that, as in most members of the dog family, there is a dark-coloured patch on the upper surface of the root of the tail, indicating the position of a gland.
Although nearly related to wolves and jackals, foxes are distinguished by their slighter make, the relatively shorter limbs and longer body and tail, as well as by the sharper muzzle, and also by a peculiarity in the shape of the projecting process of bone which forms part of the upper border of the socket of the eye. In wolves, jackals, and dogs this process is convex, whereas in all foxes it is concave; thus conclusively proving that the fox has nothing to do with the parentage of the dog.
fox
The typical fox of northern and central Europe is one of the largest representatives of the species, and is further characterised by the deep “foxy” red colour of its coat, and the light colour of the under-parts. In southern Europe this race is replaced by one of rather smaller dimensions (Canis vulpes melanogaster) and less brilliant red in colour, with the under-parts dark, and sometimes a cross-shaped dark mark on the shoulders. Nearly allied is the Himalayan fox (C. v. montanus);but in central Asia and some of the neighbouring countries we find a larger and paler race known asC. v. flavescens. No representative of the species is found to the south of the Himalaya or in Burma and the Malay countries; but the central Asian, or a nearly allied, race probably extends right across Siberia and Manchuria.
In North America the fox reappears, and ranges as far south as Georgia; the common and most widely distributed race being known asC. v. fulvus, while separate names have been given to the races respectively inhabiting Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. The so-called “cross fox” of America is merely one with a blackish stripe down the back and another across the shoulders, as in many Himalayan and Afghan foxes; while the “silver fox” is a grey, and the “black fox” a black phase of the ordinary American race.
Skins of black foxes are of enormous value, really fine specimens selling for as much as £200 each; they are imitated by dyeing the skins of the white Arctic fox (C. lagopus) and leaving the end of the tail and the tips of the longer hairs white. Although most of these black skins come from America, black foxes apparently also occur in Siberia.
No matter how far north its range, the fox never turns white in winter. Another curious fact about this animal is that the skin, when viewed under the microscope, exhibits a structure indicating that the ancestors of the species were apparently clothed with scales instead of hair; thus affording important testimony to the view that mammals are the direct descendants of reptiles.
Unlike jackals and wolves, the fox is a more or less solitary animal, living for the greater part of the year alone, or in company with the vixen, as the female is called; the latter name being merely the west country pronunciation offixen, which may be the Saxon plural offix. Chiefly nocturnal in their habits, foxes may take up their residence either in holes, or “earths,” dug by themselves, in ravines or clefts among rocks, or amid coarse grass and bushes. The young, usually from five to seven in number, have slaty grey coats quite different from their parents. Although foxes are sad enemies to the poultry-yard and the game-covert, it should be remembered that they are death on field-mice and rats.